[meteorite-list] Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System (TPS)

Tue Jun 28 21:44:38 EDT 2011

Robert, (and to List...)

I am saving this entry, with +++s, into my "good-stuff" folder.  Thank you!

Richard M

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert & Nancy Veilleux" <robnanv at comcast.net>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 5:08 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System (TPS)

> As a fairly new subscriber to the met-list, and a meteorite(nut) 
> collector. I would like to inject a few pieces of information about the 
> Space Shuttle Tiles from my personal experiences with them.
>
> As the "other" Teacher In Space(TIS) candidate from the state of NH I was 
> "given" a damaged flown Tile by NASA way back in January 1986 while I was 
> attending the TIS Launch Conference (STS-51-L Challenger) in Florida.  The 
> tile that I received, was a black borosilicate coated high tempertaure 
> tile (HRSI) that was damaged on an earlier mission of the space shuttle 
> Discovery. (Each Space Shuttle carries approximately 34,000 separate 
> Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles. (Thirty to 100 tiles are replaced 
> on an orbiter after each mission.)
>
> In order for me to receive this tile from NASA I had to sign a four page 
> security agreement form which stated more things than I can possibly 
> remember at this time.  Basically it stated that this tile was presented 
> to me as a representative of the "Space Ambassadors" and the state of NH 
> and I could not sell it to anyone, nor could I charge anyone to see it.  I 
> could not cut it up and give any pieces of it away nor sell any pieces of 
> it. I could not give it to any person from a foreign country. If I was to 
> retire from teaching within five years of receiving this tile I had to 
> return it to NASA.  After five years time had elapsed when I was to retire 
> from teaching the tile was not my personal property but was to stay with 
> the school district from which I retired (I hope that It is still there).
>
> We were given these tiles of 98.5% pure silicon dioxide to demonstrate the 
> amazing thermal protection that they offer to the Space Shuttles.  Using a 
> blowtorch hundereds of times in schools all over NH I have never seen even 
> the least bit of any fusion crust form on the tile that I had used.  I 
> believe that they are so pure that they never "wear out".  However, the 
> borosilicate coating on the tiles does appears to wear thin after repeated 
> use and may crack and flake and be the cause of replacing numerous tiles 
> for each mission. This repeated heating and cooling did cause the tile to 
> discolor from the very black tile to a grey color after repeated use. This 
> can also be seen on the underside of any of the space shuttles with the 
> newer replaced black tiles standing out from the grey tiles that have gone 
> through numerous launch and re-entry missions. So for those of you who 
> dream of buying a tile from NASA I would say that your chances are about 
> as good as buying some of the 842 pounds of lunar rocks and soil samples 
> so staunchly discussed as of recent.
>
> NASA Has had a program in place for many years where they do furnish tiles 
> to museums, educational and academic institutions etc. For educational 
> purposes and if you want to see all its "NASAese" go to any of the 
> following: 
> http://www.hq.nasa.gov/oia/nasaonly/itransition/Shuttle_Tiles_Disposition_Plan.pdf
> http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/topnav/materials/listbytype/Shuttle_Tiles_Educator_Guides.html
> http://space.about.com/b/2010/12/03/schools-can-order-space-shuttle-tiles-for-educational-use.htm
>
> Since my retirement from full time teaching I now work part-time at the 
> McAuliffe Shepard Discovery Center in Concord NH where we are also an NASA 
> Educational Resource Center and have received two HRSI black tiles from 
> NASA for demonstration purposes.  When we use them we do use the 
> recommended cotton gloves to handle them and are careful not to damage 
> them. I would close by stating that calling these "tiles" is like calling 
> a piece of styofoam heavy, for the typical six inch square tile weighs no 
> more than a few ounces (50-60 g) depending on the thickness of the 
> particular tile.  In Fact I will never forget the day that one very 
> unknowelgable  colleagues when first presented the chance to hold a tile 
> in his hand decided to rap it with his knuckle and promptly crack the very 
> delicate borosilicate coating rendering the tile as damaged goods. A very 
> dramatic demonstration of why a space shuttle is never launched during a 
> rain storm.
>
> So any individual who is questing to get a shuttle tile to add to their 
> collection of space memoribilia I suggest you do as I have done and buy 
> one from the Buran Space Shuttle Shop.
>
> Robert A. Veilleux
> Planetarium Educator
> MCauliffe Shepard Discovery Center
> 2 Institute Drive
> Concord, NH 03301
>
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