Jun 6 2003
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it had awarded the contract to manage the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Science and Operations Control Center to a nonprofit consortium, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA). The contract, valued at US$162.2 million, stipulated that AURA manage the Science and Operations Control Center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. AURA would provide products and services required to prepare the science program, develop ground systems, provide science and engineering support, provide integration and test support, perform educational and public outreach, and perform flight and science operations during the launch and commissioning of JWST, scheduled for launch in 2011. (NASA, “Webb Spacecraft Science and Operations Center Contract Award,” contract release c03-r, 6 June 2003, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2003/jun/HQ_c03r_Webb.html (accessed 6 June 2003).
The CAIB conducted an outdoor test re-creating the conditions at Columbia's launch, to determine whether foam could break reinforced-carbon wing pieces. During the test, a pair of orbiter wing parts cracked and shifted out of alignment after investigators shot a 1.5-pound (0.68-kilogram) piece of foam at the panel at a speed of 525 miles per hour (845 kilometers per hour). The impact created a gap of less than 0.1 inch (0.25 centimeter) wide and at least 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) long. G. Scott Hubbard, the CAIB member in charge of the test, stated that the Board required further analysis to determine whether the damage would have allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the wing during reentry. (Marcia Dunn, “Impact Test Supports Shuttle Foam Theory,” Washington Post, 9 June 2003.
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