Jul 7 2003
From The Space Library
NASA engineers and investigators, together with members of the CAIB, watched as engineers fired foam insulation at a mockup of the leading edge of an orbiter wing, creating a 16-inch-wide (40.6-centimeter-wide) hole in the reinforced-carbon-carbon panel. Engineers used a compressed nitrogen gas cannon to fire a 1.7-pound (0.77-kilogram) piece of foam at the wing mockup at a speed of 530 miles per hour (853 kilometers per hour), duplicating the force exerted on Columbia's wing when a piece of foam of the same size hit the orbiter during launch. The test results showed that it was possible that a foam block falling from the external tank could have breached the orbiter's leading edge, allowing hot gases to penetrate the wing structure during reentry and resulting in the breakup of Columbia. (Alan Levin, “Shuttle Foam Test Leaves Hole,” USA Today, 8 July 2003; John Kelly, “Foam Punches Large Hole in Wing: Test is 'Smoking Gun', Shuttle Panel Says,” Florida Today (Brevard, FL), 8 July 2003.
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