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Pastimes : Shuttle Columbia STS-107
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To: Yogizuna who wrote (606)7/7/2003 12:42:30 AM
From: S. maltophilia  Read Replies (1) of 627
 
I didn't find a very good second by second telemetry data chart but here's a pretty useful chart of velocity, etc., vs time:
aerospaceweb.org
From somewhere near the front of the fuel tank to the wing leading edge is roughly 30 meters (100 feet).It's effectively less than that if the falling foam is quickly acquiring a tremendous velocity relative to the space shuttle traveling at approximately 670 meters/second (2000 feet/sec.)and will thus require even more acceleration, but we'll disregard that. The foam was shot out of the cannon at ~ 220 meters per second.
The formula for this acceleration is:
v squared = 2 a ( delta x) where a is acceleration, v is velocity and delta x is distance covered. Everything is in standard metric form.
So I get 220 squared = 2a(30)
50000= 60a
a= ~ 800 meters/sec/sec
That is about 80 g's and would more likely rip that piece of foam to shreds, if indeed there is any force to accelerate it at that incredible rate. The only forces are gravity (1g) and whatever air resistance there is at 70,000 feet. There's some (and it's still acting at several times that height, as we saw at re-entry) but if it can exert anywhere near those forces, flight would be impossible.
My point is that NASA's tests are less than realistic. If it's necessary to armor the leading wing edges against extreme high speed impacts (and as being proposed, carry a complete repair kit on every flight) we may as well shut down the whole program. I would have liked to see them measure the impact of an object at a more realistic velocity and plan accordingly.
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