photo by Matthew Simantov
Associated Content reporter Matt Tyler reports that a small piece of metal has become lodged in between an instrument panel and one of the windshields of space shuttle Atlantis. The issue could end up permanently grounding Atlantis, leaving the craft to be used solely for spare parts for Endeavour and Discovery.
Space shuttle technology calls for some of the strongest windshields in existence. Never mind the severe temperature fluctuations of a couple hundred degrees every 45 minutes or so as the Shuttle orbits the earth, they take a beating from the re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere. Add the intense vibrations that the ship experiences during liftoff and landing, and a small piece of metal could end up breaking the three-ply windshield, which would be catostrophic, to say the least.
The exterior most layer of the windshield gets replaced with some regularity, as they do take damage from micro-meteorites whilst on missions. The interior layer has never been replaced, and the assembly line used to create the windshield assembly no longer exists. If NASA cannot find a way to remove the debris, Atlantis will have to be retired.
At TeleGlass, we hope that NASA’s plan of pressurizing the vehicle, which will have the effect of expanding the vehicle slightly, will be successful. We’re pretty smart, but if the rocket scientists can’t figure out how to repair that windshield, I’m not sure what we could do differently.
Read the original article here.
Read more from James Lee.
In 2009 he joined TGSC Group as the managing director of product development. James brings expertise in customer satisfaction and service delivery to the team. He guest blogs for TeleGlass and is an amateur photographer. Find him on Twitter @jronaldlee.
