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NASA Space Shuttle Blueprint

NASA Space Shuttle Blueprint

  • Verified Authentic

Matter Item #304


This section of paper was a piece of a blueprint used to manufacture a critical component of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

These are not modern reproductions. They were produced in the 1970s for use in the Space Shuttle Orbiter development.

Each display includes a unique, individually-numbered ½ x ½" fragment, research card, and certificate of authenticity.

 

History:

In 1972, NASA hired LTV Aerospace to develop the Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS) a method for measuring air pressure distribution around the spacecraft’s nose during reentry.

Due to the extreme heat of reentry, which could reach temperatures as high as 2,700° F (1,480° C), this assembly and the leading edges of the wings were protected by black tiles made of reinforced carbon-carbon material (RCC).

In 2003, during Columbia’s 28th launch, a piece of foam broke off the external fuel tank and struck the RCC tiles at about 500 mph (800 km/h), causing damage that ultimately lead to the tragic destruction of the spacecraft during reentry. Less than a year later, the Space Shuttle fleet was scheduled to be retired.

  • Acrylic Display
  • Certificate of Authenticity
  • Individually Numbered
$64.00
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Collections containing this item:
Aeronautics | Bestsellers | Historical Artifacts | NASA | Newest Listings | Outer Space | Space Flight Artifact Collection | Space Flight Artifacts | Stationery | Stemcell Catalog | Wholesale Products |

Online References

NASA Press Release for LTV Contract for Thermal Protection System, 1972 (release #72-121 (p. 298-299) & release #72-171 (p. 419–420)): https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83124main_1972.pdf

LTV Development Final Report, NASA 1975: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19750065713/downloads/19750065713.pdf

NASA Contractor Report, Historical Summary of Hardware Development, 1983: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19910011867/downloads/19910011867.pdf

Certification Test Program, NASA 1980: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19810005656/downloads/19810005656.pdf (LTV Aerospace had become Vought Corp prior to publication)

Columbia Accident Investigation Report, NASA 2003: https://sma.nasa.gov/SignificantIncidents/assets/columbia-accident-investigation-board-report-volume-1.pdf

Testing the RCC component, NASA 2007: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20070034702/downloads/20070034702.pdf

Analysis of RCC component, NASA 1994: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19940030739/downloads/19940030739.pdf

LTV Aerospace contract value 1975, NASA: https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4012/vol4/t5.21.htm

News article about this component, 1986: https://flighttestfact.com/columbia-gathers-data-with-ltv-built-one-of-a-kind-nose-cap/

Lockheed Martin purchases LTV Aerospace, 1992: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-27-fi-4136-story.html

Overview of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon — Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforced_carbon%E2%80%93carbon

Overview of Shuttle Thermal Protection System: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/167473main_TPS-06rev.pdf

A nice gallery of shuttle construction images: https://imgur.com/a/PEkcv

Technical Details

Fragment Size: 0.5" x 0.5"

fig. 1

Space Shuttle Orbiter

Columbia was 1 of 5 Space Shuttle Orbiters produced. Can you name them all?

Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, Endeavor

Bonus: Enterprise was an early prototype Space Shuttle produced for flight testing.

Customer Reviews

Based on 2 reviews
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Z
Z. (Kansas, United States)

An amazing addition to any collection of NASA artifacts.

Z
Z.U.U. (Virginia, United States)

Zachary gave this item 5 stars

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