RE Missing or damaged tiles
NASA will be doing lots of planning if this contributed to the accident
Since its has been reported that meteorite or space junk damage is rather common then sometime it might be
serious enough to need repairs in orbit
Future flights could be planned with a closer orbit to the Space Station letting it be accessed for emergencies or repairs Spare tiles could be kept in the Station .
A means should be developed to repair or replace tiles no matter how costly, in order to de-orbit and save the very expensive Shuttles. I'm thinking prebuilt boot shaped or universal tile that could be glued over the damaged area- the main problem being to find a glue that works in a vacuum( Good job for people on the Space station), since the fluids in any common glues would probably boil off in the vacuum and become useless.
In this case a space-walk was probably not justified on the mere suspicion of tile damage ( no means to fix it anyhow) , and it puts the entire crew at some additional risk, having to suit up, depressurize, open the hatches, lose some atmosphere, etc.
A small wheeled robot containing a video camera ( I have one in front of me, but its to small to find, maybe 1in x 2 in) Seems practical for any exterior inspection if deemed needed. Could be stowed under a movable hinged tile on the exterior with electrical wires attached so the cabin does not have to be depressurized and it would be disposable. Or could be Ni-cad powered with wireless communication.
Engineers designing Mars rovers, modern toys would have fun working out the details . Like how to keep it
forced against the outer skin so the wheels could move it around.
The simplest way to inspect the bottom surface is a wireless camera similar to this.......
x10.com!LND126,../overturekw1.htm?>videocam:.50
Mounted on the lower end of a 1/2 in diameter periscope that protrudes thru the lower surface thru a 1/2 in diameter tube of high temp metal and can be extended about 2 feet, and rotated to look around.
Retracted for clearance during launch, but could still outside the tiles and sacrificed during re-entry by letting it burn away. The shuttle should be able to with stand a 1/2 in hole in a tile.
This idea would not provide work enough to get attention, which is why I presented the Rube Rover idea first,
-so they would have enough to do
Sig |
