Shuttle Re-entry

[bocefus]

It was Chrysler in ther Saturn V days.

 

[User546]

Does anyone remember concerns that people had that some of the pieces of Columbia were radioactive when they rained down accross Texas?
I wonder if that was just an urban myth or there was some truth to it?

If true, then what is radioactive on board the shuttle? Anyone know anything about this?

It wouldn't suprise me if there wasn't some form of HazMat on the shuttle, however I've always been of the opinion that NASA was quick to issue that warning as to cut down on the amount of looting and artifact pillaging that naturally would occur after an accident like that. Just tell everyone it's all covered in radioactive material and no one will want to go near it.

However that didn't end up being the case. And last I heard, there hadn't been one rescue worker (out of thousands) or anyone assisting in the recovery effort that has come down with any exposure, burns, or diseases from any of this supposed HazMat that was suppose to come down with the shuttle.

And furthermore, you'd think that at the point in the atmosphere that the shuttle disintegrated, any liquids or HazMat would have been burned up and vaporized long before it ever hit the ground.

Bit of scavaging trivia... there is still one of the astronauts space suit helmets that is still missing and has never been recovered. Most likely its in the possession of a scavenger hunter that ran across the find of a lifetime!

 

[mzaharis]

It was Chrysler in ther Saturn V days.

I checked out "Stages to Saturn" when I got home. Chrysler did the first stages for the Saturn 1 and 1B's. Boeing did the Saturn V S-IC stages. Both were assembled at the same place, though - the Michoud facility in Huntsville (Marshall Space Flight Center). Interestingly, that's where the current shuttle ET is built - by Lockheed Martin (just about the only space prime contractor that hasn't been absorbed by Boeing). More different people in that place than a 2 dollar hooker.

Interesting trivia point - the diameter of the Saturn V rocket (33 feet) was determined largely by the height of the ceilings at Michoud.

 

[EagleRJ]

Maybe not navy, but barges were constantly used to deliver the first and second stages of the Saturn V rockets. They're currenly also used for some launchers, including the Delta IV (Boeing built a new barge for this). They may also be used for certain SRB components (not sure, though) Don't know offhand whether they were navy or not.

I believe the SRB sections spend at least part of their journey on a barge during their trip from the Thiokol plant in Utah. The SRB sections are shipped individually, then assembled at the Cape.
They are also recovered by ship. After they parachute into the Atlantic, NASA ships find them, pump them full of air to make them float on the surface, and tow them back for reuse.

There was no reason for the SRBs to be designed with multiple segements like that. Larger and longer cast-fuel motors have been made in the past for earlier launch vehicles. If they were built locally, the SRBs could have been made in one piece, with no O-rings. The only reason for that design was the political pressure exerted to give the contract to Morton Thiokol. It was political pork that eventually doomed Challenger, but I'm not going to go off on that rant right now.

There normally isn't much radioactive material on the Shuttle. Individual experiments may have small amounts, but the only RTGs (Radioisotope Thermal Generator) launched into space have been carried on unmanned rockets (they're only used on deep space probes, and the Shuttle doesn't launch those).
The rumor of NASA floating the idea of radioactivity after the Columbia accident might have some merit, but people are probably getting confused with the NASA warnings about the hydazine on the Shuttle. Electrical power is provided on the Shuttle by three APUs that run on hydrazine (the maneuvering thrusters use it too). It's a fuel that is self-oxidizing, but it's also highly flammable, poisonous, and corrosive. It's nasty, nasty, stuff! It's also the reason you see the truck with the large propeller pull up to the Shuttle just after it rolls to a stop on the runway. Breathing of hydrazine fumes is not a good idea.
It's unlikely that any hydrazine survived the Columbia accident, but it was probably a good idea to keep people from scavenger hunting in the debris field.

 

[KigAir]

What are the heat tiles made out of?

 

[CrewResearch]

What are the heat tiles made out of?

Silica, I think.

 

[User546]

CrewResearch is right.

If you like explanations with big words, check out the below link. It describes in a bit more detail the makeup of the shuttle tiles:

http://phun.physics.virginia.edu/demos/shuttle.html

 

[SandyLab]

How many night landings have there been? I thought all landings were done during the day.

I think we're going to see more night landings in the future of the shuttle program. Take note of the flight path on this recovery. Notice how it has very little flight over the US turf. I think this is a lesson learned from the unfortunate Columbia accident where the debris was spread over west to east. This path is interesting how it sneaks up feet wet from the gulf of mexico to FL.

 

[EagleRJ]

I think we're going to see more night landings in the future of the shuttle program. Take note of the flight path on this recovery. Notice how it has very little flight over the US turf. I think this is a lesson learned from the unfortunate Columbia accident where the debris was spread over west to east. This path is interesting how it sneaks up feet wet from the gulf of mexico to FL.

That's a fun conspiricy theory, but it's not true.

The shuttle is coming in from the SW instead of the WNW due to the "inclination" of the Space Station's orbit. The inclination refers to the maximum angle between the orbit and the equator. Most non-ISS Shuttle missions are launched at less than 30 degrees inclination, which means the Northern-most and Southern-most parts of the orbit are closer to the Equator. The ISS is orbiting at around 51 degrees inclination, so the Shuttle needs to be sent into a completely different orbit in order to rendezvous with it.

The orbital inclination is mostly decided during launch. It can be adjusted a tiny amount in orbit, but changing it a lot would require an impossible amount of fuel. That is why Columbia couldn't reach the ISS, even if the damage to the tiles had been detected. It would be like driving down the Interstate, and seeing another car driving across an overpass above you. Physically close, but no chance of docking.

 

[JimNtexas]

I've seen two night shuttle recoveries when they passed over Austin, very spectacular.