The Aerospace Corporation To Receive

Space Shuttle Columbia Debris For Study

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. ( 5/20/04) -- The Aerospace Corporation is soon to receive the first pieces of Space Shuttle Columbia debris loaned to a non-governmental agency for testing and research, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced today.

The materials were en route from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., to The Aerospace Corporation's headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., NASA said.

Aerospace requested and will receive graphite/epoxy honeycomb skins from an orbital maneuvering system pod, main propulsion system helium tanks, a reaction control system helium tank and a power reactant storage distribution system tank.

Studying the Effects of Re-entry

The company will use the parts to study re-entry effects on composite materials. NASA said it notified the Columbia crew's families about the loan before releasing the items for study.

Aerospace senior scientist Dr. Gary L. Steckel of the Materials Science Department said the company also expects to receive a section of the Columbia's payload bay door.

Earlier this year, Steckel viewed the items at Kennedy Space Center.

"We believe these items are representative of the structural composite materials flown on Columbia. They will enable us to successfully meet our objective of calibrating analytical models for predicting reentry behavior of composite structures," Steckel said.

Response to Heating, Loads

Researchers believe the testing will show how materials are expected to respond to various heating and loads' environments. The findings will help calibrate tools and models used to predict hazards to people and property from reentering hardware.

The Aerospace Corporation will have the debris for one year to perform analyses to estimate maximum temperatures during reentry based upon the geometry and mass of the recovered composite.

Aerospace has conducted studies on the breakup and reentry of spacecraft for 35 years. In 1997 the company established the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies, which has in recent years examined a number of metal components from launch stages that reentered Earth's atmosphere after spending time on orbit. But Steckel said this is the first time the company has had the opportunity to study substantial composite materials.

"NASA's mission includes the development of technologies that improve the safety and reliability of access to space," said NASA's Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory. "By allowing the scientific community to study Columbia debris, researchers will have the opportunity to gain unprecedented knowledge about the effects of reentry."

NASA said the request from Aerospace was one of several "Request for Information" applications NASA received to study Columbia debris. The eight pieces of hardware Aerospace is to receive were inventoried inside the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building, where Columbia's debris is stored and prepared for shipment. Steckel traveled to Kennedy in February and identified the materials he deemed suitable for study.

"The idea of studying pieces of Columbia came to me in the debris hangar soon after the accident," said NASA's Shuttle Launch Director Mike Leinbach. "It was clear to me we could learn a lot from it, and that we shouldn't bury the debris as we did with Challenger's."

"To see the plan come together is personally rewarding," Leinbach said. "I hope the technical community will learn as much as possible and put that knowledge to use to improve spacecraft and flight crew system designs in the future," he said.