SAFELY CONTAINING FRANGIBLE MATERIALS USED IN SPACE FLIGHT EQUIPMENT

摘要

The Space Shuttle (NSTS) and International Space Station (ISS) programs invite scientific experiments, photography, videography and other activities in which the crew uses equipment provided by a wide variety of hardware developers. Many of these items contain frangible components like lenses, mirrors, windows and other things made of glass or ceramics. NASA has established a strict guideline that requires any piece of glass or brittle ceramic used in the habitable compartment to be contained. For items that are not used in the habitable compartment but are used external to the ISS or launched in the Shuttle payload bay, other containment rules apply. Some items used in the crew compartments have met the safety goals without full containment. This paper will address the different requirements and approaches used throughout the NSTS and ISS programs to control the hazards posed by the potential of free-floating shards of glass or ceramic.