Position Paper External Tank Thermal Protection System (TPS) Manually Sprayed fly-as-is Foam Certification

摘要

During manufacture of the existing External Tanks (ETs), the Thermal Protection System (TPS) foam manual spray application processes lacked the enhanced controls/procedures to ensure that defects produced were less than the critical size. Therefore the only remaining option to certify the 'fly-as-is' foam is to verify ET120 tank hardware meets the new foam debris requirements. The ET project has undertaken a significant effort studying the existing 'fly-as-is' TPS foam. This paper contains the findings of the study.