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NASA News
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration

John C. Stennis Space Center
Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000         STS-05-052
(228) 688-3341         May 20, 2003

Lanee Cooksey       FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NASA News Chief
(228) 688-3341

SHUTTLE'S RETURN TO FLIGHT RELIES ON NASA TEAM EFFORT

HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. - Test hardware machined at NASA's Stennis
Space Center (SSC) could play a significant role in the Space Shuttle
program's return to flight. SSC machined two components for a test
article of the leading edge of Space Shuttle Columbia's left wing.
Engineers from NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston will use
the test article in an attempt to re-create conditions on Columbia
before her Feb. 1 accident. Engineers believe foam insulation that
impacted Columbia's wing during ascent may have breached the
reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) panels, leading to the loss of
Columbia and her crew during re-entry.

"The test article will simulate a portion of Columbia's left wing RCC
panels No. 5 through No. 10," said JSC Manufacturing Engineer Dan
Petersen. "Blocks of external tank insulation will be fired at the
test article from a large air cannon," said  JSC Project Manager
Wayne Jermstad. The object of the test is to understand what effect
the foam will have on the RCC panels. 

Last month, SSC received plates of Inconel, a strong, heat-resistant
alloy, and in a quick turnaround of only one week, machined them into
two spanner beams, structural parts that reinforce the RCC panels.

"Inconel is actually very hard, and very hard to machine," said
NASA's Dale McCarty, SSC machine shop technical manager. "You have to
go slow." It took Machinist Jacob McKinley two days to program the
computer-controlled machine and about two and a half days to
fabricate each piece. The finished products resembled two flat ribs,
each roughly 18 inches long and 5 inches wide.  His supervisor,
Machine Shop Foreman Don Smith, said, "It may not mean much to us
today, but when that shuttle flies again, I might be able to say,
'Man! I had a part in that!'"

"If they don't use the spanner beams in the test ., they'll go
straight into flight inventory (for the Space Shuttle program),"
McCarty said. 

"Either way, it's a big deal," Jermstad said. "Hopefully, we'll be
able to return the shuttles to  space flight real soon as a result of
the tests." 

More than 500 parts will be manufactured and over 1,500 fasteners
used to assemble the test article in just five weeks. SSC was the
first center to respond to JSC's requests to produce eight hardware
packages. 

"This really represents the One NASA approach because we're involving
several centers," Jermstad said. "This is a great demonstration of
what we can do when we collaborate."  "It was a rush job. JSC put the
call out for help," McCarty said. "This is all part of the new
fabrication alliance where we can use all of NASA's capabilities
across the country." 

Miguel Rodriguez, director of NASA's Center Operations Directorate at
SSC, said, "There is a lot of power behind the belief that we can get
things done through the fabrication alliance." Assembly of the test
article began May 1 with both JSC and Kennedy Space Center personnel.
The joint JSC-KSC will test the panels this month at Southwest
Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. 

"It's all in memory of Columbia's crew," Petersen said. "We want to
find out the truth."

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