Tue, Mar 18, 2014
Atlanta Facility Receives Donation Of Columbia's Nose Cap
A piece of NASA's Columbia Space Shuttle now resides at Tellus Science Museum just north of Atlanta, GA. Donated by NASA's Historical Artifacts Program, the nose cap from the Space Shuttle Columbia will go on display as part of Tellus' permanent space exhibit on Friday March 14.
Space Shuttle Columbia was America's first Space Shuttle and first reusable spacecraft. It flew 28 flights over the course of nearly 22 years, orbiting the Earth 4,908 times covering nearly 122 million miles. It is most notably remembered as disintegrating while re-entering the atmosphere from its final mission. All 7 crew members perished on board. As a result, Space Shuttle flights were suspended for 2 years while NASA conducted an investigation.
The nose cap of the shuttle was used on 11 missions. It was removed and replaced before the final fateful mission, and is significant because it is one of the few surviving pieces of the historic spacecraft that flew into space. The oval dome-shaped piece is five feet wide and has black, visible scorch marks to evidence its re-entry.
"The nose cap represents a momentous, historic and very important addition to our growing collection of items that tell the heroic story of our exploration of space," said Tellus Curator Julian Gray.
It is the fourth Space Shuttle related artifact Tellus has received. The other three include two shuttle tires and a fuel cell. The tires were flown once each on Atlantis and Discovery. The fuel cell traveled in space on twenty different missions.
(Image provided by Tellus Museum)
More News
From 2023 (YouTube Version): Legacy of a Titan Robert (Bob) Anderson Hoover was a fighter pilot, test pilot, flight instructor, and air show superstar. More so, Bob Hoover was an i>[...]
Get The Latest in Aviation News NOW on Instagram Are you on Instagram yet? It's been around for a few years, quietly picking up traction mostly thanks to everybody's new obsession >[...]
Aero Linx: B-52H Stratofortress The B-52H Stratofortress is a long-range, heavy bomber that can perform a variety of missions. The bomber is capable of flying at high subsonic spee>[...]
Altimeter Setting The barometric pressure reading used to adjust a pressure altimeter for variations in existing atmospheric pressure or to the standard altimeter setting (29.92).>[...]
"Knowing that we play an active part in bettering people's lives is extremely rewarding. My team and I are very thankful for the opportunity to be here and to help in any way we ca>[...]