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Space Forum / Shuttle / February 2004Columbia's Tail
I've had a question about Columbia's tail for a while now but never got around to asking. Does anyone know why the very top of Columbia's tail was black but none of the other shuttles had the black tail? > I've had a question about Columbia's tail for a while now but never > got around to asking. Does anyone know why the very top of Columbia's > tail was black but none of the other shuttles had the black tail? As part of the Orbiter Experiments program, a small sensor pod called SILTS was installed at the top of Columbia's vertical stabilizer. The pod changed the airflow around the top of the tail, requiring additional thermal protection, hence the black tiles.  SignatureJRF Reply-to address spam-proofed - to reply by E-mail, check "Organization" (I am not assimilated) and think one step ahead of IBM. > I've had a question about Columbia's tail for a while now but never got > around to asking. Does anyone know why the very top of Columbia's tail was > black but none of the other shuttles had the black tail? Originally, there was some sort of camera in a small fairing in that location. Because of the changed shape, it increased aerodynamic heating and that meant using HRSI. -- Alan Erskine We can get people to the Moon in five years, not the fifteen GWB proposes. Give NASA a real challenge Alanterskine1@bigpond.com > > I've had a question about Columbia's tail for a while now but never got > > around to asking. Does anyone know why the very top of Columbia's tail [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > location. Because of the changed shape, it increased aerodynamic heating > and that meant using HRSI. Wasn't it an IR scanner that was doing leeward surface temps? Shuttle Infrared Leeward Temperature System, SILTS? Mary SignatureMary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer miliff@qnet.com >> > I've had a question about Columbia's tail for a while now but never >> > got around to asking. Does anyone know why the very top of [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Wasn't it an IR scanner that was doing leeward surface temps? Shuttle > Infrared Leeward Temperature System, SILTS? Yup. According to Jenkins (p. 436), the acronym actually stands for Shuttle Infrared Leeside Temperature Sensor. The SILTS pod contained two cameras, one looking forward along the fuselage, the other looking at the left wing. The cameras were removed after STS-52, but the pod remained. I sometimes wonder what the cameras would have seen had they still been installed for STS-107, and whether any of the data would have been recoverable. SignatureJRF Reply-to address spam-proofed - to reply by E-mail, check "Organization" (I am not assimilated) and think one step ahead of IBM. > > Originally, there was some sort of camera in a small fairing in that > > location. Because of the changed shape, it increased aerodynamic heating > > and that meant using HRSI. > > Wasn't it an IR scanner that was doing leeward surface temps? Shuttle > Infrared Leeward Temperature System, SILTS? I was close, _very_ close. See Jorge's response. -- Alan Erskine We can get people to the Moon in five years, not the fifteen GWB proposes. Give NASA a real challenge Alanterskine1@bigpond.com |
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