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Foam Chunks a Problem for NASA since 1981.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, February, 2003

The Orlando Sentinel, Fla. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Feb. 3--Almost from the first day the space shuttle flew in 1981, NASA has reported problems with fuel-tank insulation damaging the crucial ceramic tiles that protect the orbiter during its fiery descent through Earth's atmosphere.

While the insulation "foam" may sound innocuous, chunks of the inch-thick Styrofoam-like substance can pose a significant threat to the orbiter.

"Foam cause damage to a ceramic tile?" wrote shuttle engineer Greg Katnik, in a 1997 report that detailed how foam debris did "significant damage" to heat tiles on Columbia.

"When the foam is combined with a flight velocity between speeds of Mach 2 to Mach 4, it becomes a projectile with...

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