

In search of the Space Shuttle thermal tile database - bsilvereagle
http://shuttletiles.space/

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prawn
I saw the Space Shuttle Discovery up close at the amazing Udvar-Hazy Center
in/near Washington DC. The scarred shielding tiles, partly because they are on
the surface closest to visitors, were something really special - made the
whole thing as an experienced object very real.

Not every other craft in the museum was built for war or commerce as there
were many experimental aircraft built by hobbyists, but the shuttle was an
iconic thing. I'd had shuttle toys in the 80s. Where other exhibits were more
"Oh, that's cool", seeing the Discovery had a real impact on me.

If you're ever anywhere near that area, go take a look. Free entrance, $15 for
parking, and you will spend hours there. It's a separate facility to the
National Air and Space Museum that most people would visit in the centre of
Washington DC - which is also very good.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_F._Udvar-
Hazy_Center#Co...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_F._Udvar-
Hazy_Center#Collection)

~~~
celoyd
Discovery at Udvar-Hazy is why I started this project. I saw the serial
numbers on the tiles – almost close enough to touch on tiptoe – and remembered
reading about some kind of database. I imagined a visualization with a line
for every tile over time, and decided to find the records to make the viz.

That was two years ago. I’ve asked a lot of people since then, but after
making a web site for the project (on @doingitwrong’s advice), this week is by
far the most attention it’s gotten. I’m hoping this is what finally gets word
to someone who knows something.

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jschwartzi
I read somewhere that NASA uses a Request Tracker system for managing
activities. Perhaps that database would contain references to the appropriate
documents?

[https://www.bestpractical.com/rt/](https://www.bestpractical.com/rt/)

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triggercut
I have a feeling this would be a Material Traceability DB, Due to the high
Quality Assurance/Control Requirements at play.

I haven't dealt with Ceramic tracability before but I deal with steel
tracability on a daily basis.

A quick primer on steel: When you buy steel from a mill, you usually get it in
plates or sections. These will be stamped with a Heat Number which links it
back to the conditions under which it was made; the chemical ladle analysis
and properties to meet a particular specification. These then undergo visual,
non-destructive and destructive testing to verify everything is acceptable.

A third party / independent verification body (or IVB) will also confirm this
by basically shadowing every step of the way and confirming everything is
legit; right from the internal processes and systems of the company down to
the certification of testing equipment involved and witnessing the tests.

If this is the case and everything lines up you will get something like an EN
10204 3.2 cert with your plate/section.

Then to maintain tracability from plate to part, there are standard processes
and requirements (either industry standard, or client imposed) which then help
maintain a chain of custody as it were.

I would hazard a guess that it's similar for ceramics.

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PaulHoule
NASA has held it's cards close to it's chest when it comes to operational data
about the Shuttle, particularly the refurbishment process.

Back in the cold war there was the fear that this information would be useful
to another country that could learn from our experience and develop a shuttle
that is faster and cheaper to turn around. Maybe things are different now.

~~~
tomswartz07
As it happened, the Russians made a clone of the Space Shuttle, called the
Buran[1].

It was the first space shuttle to perform a totally autonomous flight, even
landing on a runway without any human intervention.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_%28spacecraft%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_%28spacecraft%29)

~~~
PaulHoule
And note that they launched it once and never refurbished it for a second
launch.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
There were some recent pictures of it taken too:
[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3119861/Russi...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3119861/Russia-
s-forgotten-space-agency-Haunting-images-reveal-two-abandoned-Soviet-shuttles-
rotting-giant-derelict-hangar.html)

Kinda sad, clone as she is, she deserves a spot in a museum.

~~~
tnicks
I was in VDNKh in Moscow in 2006 and I saw "what I thought" was the Buran
there. Not sure if it was a mockup. All the articles I am finding are saying
it wasn't moved to VDNKh until 2014 but I have a picture of myself in front of
it eight years prior.

~~~
TylerE
ISTR they actually had a second one that was maybe 80% completed.

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chrisbennet
While I sympathize with the authors desire to obtain a neat dataset, the
externalized cost of obtaining it seems high and (frankly) perhaps just a
little inconsiderate.

Imagine someone asked _you_ to spend a few days (minimum) looking through
storage to find the boxes with the data in some warehouse.

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smackfu
He should go post on www.nasaspaceflight.com. Lots of old shuttle folks hang
out there.

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omgtehlion
[offtopic] font on that page is unreadable (chrome on windows)

~~~
robertfw
Ditto for chromium on linux. Can't see the majority of text.

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celoyd
Fixed (I hope). Thanks for reporting.

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robertfw
I'm seeing a flash of lines, a flash of text, and then it all disappears.
Tried in chromium, google chrome, and firefox, similar behaviour on all three.

edit: just to confirm, i did clear all caches to pull in any new style etc

~~~
celoyd
How odd. I just switched fonts entirely (though still from Google Fonts). If
anyone has a sense of what’s going on here, I’d love to fix it properly.

~~~
Aloha
It looks great in Safari (not that this helps the folks for whom it doesn't
look great for)

