Gap fillers ?

[kentuck]

An astronaut walks out into space and floats into the vast darkness of the underbelly of his spaceship...Looking to correct a problem with "gap fillers" that somehow became displaced in the tumultous liftoff and launch of almost 20 tons of equipment and supplies. He moved cautiously, hooked to a large mechanical arm, toward the loose piece of "filler' and was able to pull them off by hand. Does that mean the ship is now safe to fly back?

Why did they work loose to begin with? Is not that same problem still there? Something is not right under the tiles when these fillers can work themselves loose, a logical person might ask? Is it safe to fly back? No. Will they bring it back? Probably.

[Kindigger]

1. Gap filler

....is a layer of material under the heat tiles. When they found a tile had come off the belly ,the fabric was sticking out of the hole.
They had to cram it back in or cut it off. If it were hanging out on re-entry it would create drag, and hot wind could possibly ignite it.

It sounds like a half assed fix to me...the hole is still there. I guess wind can't catch the edge of a hole. :shrug:

[MercutioATC]

2. Well, we kinda HAVE to bring them back...

...unless you have a great arm and really good aim.

They're not supplied for an extend stay in space.

[jojo54]

3. What worries me is, what exactly do those "gap fillers" do?

If they fill gaps, wouldn't that potentially leave, albeit small, parts of the underbelly exposed to the heat of re-entry???

In turn, isn't that dangerous??? I'm not a rocket scientist, but I don't think it takes one to figure out the danger either.

[elehhhhna]

4. I fear that the shuttle will blow up on reentry...if these fillers aren't

important, why were they there in the first place?

[jim3775]

5. The gap fillers prevent the tiles from "chattering" during takeoff.

They are not part of the thermal protection system.

[kentuck]

8. Yes...

But, it would seem that if the fillers worked loose, there would be a good chance of losing tiles on re-entry? Because something is not right....but I'm no rocket scientist...

[crispini]

6. On the news, an astronaut said

that tiles will expand on re-entry due to heat and therefore there is not a problem removing the gap fillers because the tiles will expand to take their place -- that they are only necessary for the flight UP, to cushion the tiles during takeoff.

[jim3775]

7. The initial assessment wats that the gap fillers "cured"

Only 2 gap fillers out of maybe 1000 were protruding and the fix was quick and easy, sounds good to me.