In the wake of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster every effort is being made to determine the susceptibility of Space Shuttle elements to debris impacts. Ice and frost debris is formed around the aft heat shield closure of the orbiter and liquid hydrogen feedlines. This debris has been observed to liberate upon lift-off of the shuttle and presents potentially dangerous conditions to the Space Shuttle Main Engine. This paper describes the testing done to determine the impact tolerance of the Space Shuttle Main Engine nozzle coolant tubes to ice strikes originating from the launch pad or other parts of the shuttle.


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    Title :

    Space Shuttle Main Engine Debris Testing Methodology and Impact Tolerances


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit ; 2005 ; Tucson, AZ, United States


    Publication date :

    2005-05-16


    Type of media :

    Preprint


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English