Shuttle Parts Falling Off?
Published on Jun 13, 2008 at 12:07 pm.
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Filed under space debris, space shuttle.
A little while ago, I read a report that caught my attention. Apparently, astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery have reported something floating away from the orbiter. Not long afterwards, astronauts spotted what appeared to be a small protrusion from the aft end of the orbiter’s tail. The NASA image below shows the debris floating away from the shuttle.
The debris floated away from the shuttle after it test fired its thrusters and tested its atmospheric flight control surfaces. It is not uncommon for ice to form around the engine bells at the aft end of the shuttle. And, it is not uncommon for this ice to be dislodged when the Space Shuttle moves. Also, there have been plenty of times when something in the payload bay has not been secured properly and floated out when the shuttle moved. So, in the past when things floated away from the Space Shuttle, NASA officials took notice, but were not overly concerned. However, all that has changed. On its final mission into space, an object was detected moving away from the Columbia after it had reached orbit. Some NASA engineers were quite concerned, especially after ice had been observed striking the Columbia on launch. The people calling the shots, though, didn’t take the matter all that seriously, and the result was loss of the orbiter, along with all astronauts on board. So, now, whenever something floats off from the orbiter, everyone takes note.
However, I am not implying that this is really something to worry about. After all, lots of objects have floated off during previous shuttle missions without the orbiter ever being placed in any danger. So, all that NASA engineers need to do is to determine that this is yet another event of that sort. Then, we can rest easy. But, just what was it that floated off? A clue may be in the protrusion that astronauts saw on the tail.
According to a report from Space.com, the object is now believed to be a metal clip from the area around the orbiter’s speed brake. If that is indeed what the object is, then its loss poses no threat at all to the Space Shuttle. These clips have come off many times before on previous missions, always without any ill effect for the Shuttle. The clip helps to provide thermal protection to the back end of the orbiter’s tail during launch. For a short time on the launch pad as the engines are firing up, the back end of the shuttle is exposed to quite high temperatures. This clip is one of several devices used to protect against that heat. It does nothing of any importance during reentry or landing, so its loss is nothing to worry about. At present, losing the clip is only an issue because it means yet another piece of space debris is orbiting the Earth for a while.
So, what about that protrusion? Apparently, the protrusion is believed to be an artifact of the lighting and the camera rather than an actual protrusion. In that case, it isn’t really even there, so it is not an issue. Another thought had been that it may be a bit of thermal insulation sticking out. If so, it still would not have posed a threat. It may have produced a tiny bit of drag in the area once the shuttle has slowed to regular aircraft speeds, but nothing much to worry about. This is not an area of extreme heating during reentry.
So, in short, there is probably nothing to worry about.
-Astroprof
Images courtesy NASA TV
