Interesting article that seems to confirm my suspicions about the foam impact analysis. Ever since the Columbia accident, I've wondered if the engineers allowed for the effects of cyrogenic temperatures on the foam. It seems they didn't.

A communications breakdown, a flawed analysis and a false sense of security may have led NASA to incorrectly assess the damage done by a piece of foam that struck Columbia during its launch, an accident investigation board said.



The analysis by Boeing Co. engineers and others during Columbia's mission concluded little harm was done to Columbia's left wing by a chunk of hardened foam that came off the fuel tank during its January 16 liftoff.

The board suspects the 2-pound chunk of insulating foam caused a breach along the leading edge of the left wing that let in hot atmospheric gases as the shuttle re-entered the atmosphere on its return home.



Then there's this other CNN article about how engineers are conducting actual foam impact tests. It doesn't mention if they're chilling the foam or not. I hope so. Cyrogenic temperatures would likely make the foam a lot harder, and that could change the impact dynamics considerably.

Researchers shot a chunk of real space shuttle foam insulation at an aluminum sheet Friday in preparation for tests later this month requested by the Columbia accident investigators.



The investigation board wants to measure the amount of damage caused by insulating foam striking actual shuttle wing parts at nearly 500 mph. These test-firings at Southwest Research Institute should help determine whether the blow to Columbia's left wing by a 2-pound piece of foam during liftoff was enough to lead to the ship's destruction two weeks later.