Skip Top nav bar link group topnav end piece go to business section go to education section go to history section go to gallery section go to news section go to organizations section go to research section go to search engine go to site index topnav end piece
NASA Meatball NASA Dryden F-15B banner
Close-up of test panels covered with advanced spray-on foam insulation material for the Space Shuttle external fuel tank mounted on the F-15B FTF Close-up of test panels covered with advanced spray-on foam insulation material for the Space Shuttle external fuel tank mounted on the F-15B FTF

Photo Number: EC99-44862-4
Photo Date: January 12, 1999

Formats: 533x480 JPEG Image (85 KBytes)
1138x1024 JPEG Image (361 KBytes)
3000x2699 JPEG Image (3,447 KBytes)

Description: Test panels covered with an advanced foam insulation material for the Space Shuttle's giant external fuel tank were test flown aboard an F-15B research aircraft at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif. Six panels were mounted on the left side of a heavily instrumented Flight Text Fixture mounted underneath the F-15B's fuselage. Insulation on this panel was finely machined over a horizontal rib structure to simulate in-line airflow past the tank; other panels had the ribs mounted vertically or had the insulation left in a rough as-sprayed surface. The tests were part of an effort by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to determine why small particles of the new insulation flaked off the tank on recent Shuttle missions. The tests with Dryden's F-15B were designed to replicate the pressure environment the Shuttle encounters during the first minute after launch. No noticeable erosion of the insulation material was noted after the flight experiment at Dryden.

Keywords: F-15B Images; Shuttle; insulation; panels

References: F-15B Flight Test Fixture Fact Sheet - FS-1998-10-055-DFRC


Last Modified: February 6, 2002
Responsible NASA Official: Marty Curry
Curator: PAO Webmasters

NASA Website Privacy Statement