Friday, June 06, 2003
FOAM CULPRIT
Test Confirms Damage
The "foam canon" test today confirmed that a strike like the one that impacted Columbia's left wing leading edge would cause a crack in the surface panels at that site. I think that's as good or better than the kind of forensic material the Challenger investigation produced and probably marks a wrap for finding "the cause" of Columbia's demise.
Now if only the space policy apparatus could have the courage to do the kinds of things I've been blogging about here, the Columbia Seven wouldn't have died in vain. But I'm afraid it will result in a patched-up fix (probably some kind of shield over the foam at the forward main tank attachment point) and then back to business as usual for the ISS/Shuttle system. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!
GB, THHotA
posted by Greg 7:19 PM
