In tribute to our 30 years of Space Shuttle flights and the great achievement made by the men and women of the NASA Program along for our love for science, Tom Daniels has obtained a authentic Space Shuttle tile. Each Space Shuttle carried over 24, 000 separate Thermal Protection System tiles, and each one was a different size and shape.
Mrs. Billeiter agreed to pay the postage and after a "few" list of procedures, our tile arrived in the mail.
It is made of a porous silicon. The making of the tiles begins with pure silica that comes from refined sand. this material is formed in fibers and mixed with pure water and other chemicals and then poured into a mold where the excess water is squeezed out. This is then taken to the largest microwave oven in America located at the Lockheed Space Operations plant in Sunnyvale California. After this they are treated in an oven at a temperature of 2,350 degrees Fahrenheit. This process fuses the fibers without actually melting them. These tiles can withstand up to 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. (1,260 Celsius)
These tiles protected our astronauts as they reentered the Earth's atmosphere from the frictional heating. If the shuttle had a metal exterior like an airplane the crew would burn up due to the heat produced by the friction. No two tiles are exactly alike, the tiles fit like a jigsaw puzzle, and each piece is numbered so its location is easy to find.
I have experiments that NASA provided for use with the study of the Tile. I look forward to the investigations with our students!
Mrs. Billeiter agreed to pay the postage and after a "few" list of procedures, our tile arrived in the mail.
It is made of a porous silicon. The making of the tiles begins with pure silica that comes from refined sand. this material is formed in fibers and mixed with pure water and other chemicals and then poured into a mold where the excess water is squeezed out. This is then taken to the largest microwave oven in America located at the Lockheed Space Operations plant in Sunnyvale California. After this they are treated in an oven at a temperature of 2,350 degrees Fahrenheit. This process fuses the fibers without actually melting them. These tiles can withstand up to 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. (1,260 Celsius)
These tiles protected our astronauts as they reentered the Earth's atmosphere from the frictional heating. If the shuttle had a metal exterior like an airplane the crew would burn up due to the heat produced by the friction. No two tiles are exactly alike, the tiles fit like a jigsaw puzzle, and each piece is numbered so its location is easy to find.
I have experiments that NASA provided for use with the study of the Tile. I look forward to the investigations with our students!
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