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Thermal Protection Tile Mission: STS-87 Columbia   Crew: Kevin R. Kregel Steven W. Lindsey Winston E. Scott Kalpana Chawla Takao Doi Leonid K. Kadenyuk Launch: November 19, 1997   Landing: December 5, 1997   Duration: 15 days, 16 hours   Comment: Flew the U.S. Microgravity Payload (USMP-4) This tile was removed from Columbia during a routine post- flight inspection. It may and is likely to have flown on prior missions to STS-87. To protect the orbiter from heat during reentry, Lockheed Missles and Space Company developed an insulation designed to survive at least 100 spaceflights. These thermal protection tiles were made from basic silica material that can shed heat so quickly, it can be held in a bare hand while still red hot. Nearly 31,000 tiles of thermal insulation - each of a different size, shape and thickness - are used to protect the body of each of the shuttle orbiters. back to Artifacts © 1999-2008 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved. Questions? E-mail contact@collectspace.com