Kennedy Space Center.A couple of days ago NASA allowed a group of journalists to visit one of those mythical and almost inaccessible places of the Kennedy Space Center: one of the twospace shuttle launch pads. The engineers wanted to show us the damage suffered by the pit that deflects the flames thrown by the fierce white engines flanking that ship at launch.
During takeoff of the orbiterDiscoveryOn May 31, some 5,300 firebricks broke off the wall and were violently thrown 600 meters away. After the gigantic cloud of fire and smoke dissipates, the terrain behind the pit is dotted with thousands of pieces of brick reminiscent of pebbles after a volcanic eruption. Some of the pieces have hit the barbed wire around the perimeter of the platform like projectiles. Everytakeoffprint on the pit a3 million newton force, a figure equivalent to the force of 22 locomotives attacking simultaneously. The heat generated by the flames exceeds1.900° C. It also produces a lot of noise, which is muffled by a powerful jet of water that is launched over the base of the platform at the moment of ignition. This allows to suppress the vibrations that are generated by the sound.
Launch pads are truly imposing structures. They are two mobile monuments whose base, which carries the shuttle, is removed and placed on a reinforced concrete hill for each launch. They look like a cross between the Pompidou Center and an industrial complex; a towering array of pipes, cables, floorboards and gray stairs that protect, nourish and prepare the shuttle weeks before each launch. Underneath, they are no less impressive: a pair of rectangular holes through which the flames pass open just above the pit. It has a horizontal cone shape and is covered with asbestos and flanked by two walls lined with these special bricks.
“These graves date from the eraof Apollo “says Perry Becker, an engineer leading the rig repair effort. ? More than four decades being fired at high temperatures have finally taken their toll. We don’t know exactly what caused the damage yet, but it was most likely a combination of factors such asheat, vibrations, and adhesive degradationor with which the layer of bricks was glued to the concrete behind? The interesting thing is that, although they were attached to the wall with a special rubber, the bricks are not glued together, but rather have a mechanical game in which they marry each other through grooves and ridges.
The decision on what kind ofrepairIt is going to take place at the end of June. But Becker thinks that the most viable would be to cover the damaged area of the wall, which has an area of 20 by 6 meters, with a metal mesh and then apply a layer of heat-resistant materials over it. The work should be ready before the next launch of the Atlantis orbiter, in early October, with the last service mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
NASA is inspecting Launch Pad B for similar problems with brick fatigue.
? The reason there are still scattered bricks out there is that they are impregnated with asbestos and the toxic compounds in fuel, and we have to proceed slowly ,? says Becker as he removes a pair of blue rubber surgical gloves. ? But we hope to fix the platform in time for the next takeoff.? Launch Pad 39A, where we are now, has endured 70 shuttle takeoffs, and 12 lunar rocket launches.Saturno V, including the one that led to the first moon landing mission. A little further on the horizon, Platform 39B, saw the final flight of theChallenger.
Angela Posada-Swafford
Photos: Angela Posada-Swafford
