US Space Shuttle Atlantis and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System on-orbit during Mission STS-135. Photo: NASA |
Nine
engineers from Sandia National Laboratories helped ensure Atlantis’
safety from Mission Control at Johnson Space Center as the shuttle made
its final flight, marking the end of NASA’s 30-year space shuttle
program. For the past 22 missions—every one since NASA’s 2005 return
to space—Sandia Labs’ engineers have worked tirelessly to protect the
astronauts with ingenious, space-based inspections of the orbiter’s
thermal protection system.
After
Columbia’s debris-damaged heat shield failed in 2003, causing the
tragic accident that took the lives of all seven on board, Sandia
developed a laser dynamic range imager, or LDRI, which generates 3D
images from 2D video. The LDRI Orbiter Inspection System
(LOIS) is attached to the orbiter’s boom and scans the heat shield twice—once 18 hours after liftoff and then again the day before re-entry—to ensure that no part of the orbiter’s heat shield was damaged during
launch or orbit.
“It’s been an excellent relationship between Sandia and NASA and a true
team effort,” says Bob Habbit, manager of Sandia’s Remote Sensing and
Communications System group. “The people we work with here are, in
effect, co-workers. We’ve had a very tight relationship, so it’s tough
to see that relationship come to a close for this project, but again, we
are very proud of what we’ve been able to do and the support we’ve
provided for NASA.”
The
effort needed to execute the scan is extensive. In the early days,
beginning with the launch of Discovery on July 26, 2005, Sandia took a
24-person team to Texas to oversee all aspects of LOIS; some of that
work was eventually turned over to NASA, so for the last 17 missions,
usually only nine or 10 Sandians went to Houston for the hands-on work.
“We
led the inspection activity and operations in the payloads operations
center for the data collections. We validated that the data was correct
and that the sensor was operating properly, and then we reviewed the
work of the NASA team to make sure that the data had been processed
correctly,” Habbit says. “That was our principal role, but in the event
that there was some defect found, we provided technical expertise and
support to the mission management team.”
Sandia’s
role extended beyond the launch and re-entry; team members worked
intensely before, during, and after each mission to ensure everything
went smoothly.
“After
every touchdown, once the orbiter returned to Kennedy Space Center, we
did a full checkout and calibration on LOIS, and then we would integrate
it back to the orbiter at the Orbiter Processing Facility,” Habbit
says. “Before the next launch, our team would again test the system on
the launch pad before the payload bay doors were closed.”
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The
shuttle program has launched 355 astronauts into space since its
inception in 1981, hauled into orbit and maintained the Hubble Telescope
(which captured its millionth observation July 4, 2011), and was the
workhorse that assembled the International Space Station. As the nation
awaits the next manned missions into space, Sandia’s team is already
participating in panels exploring NASA’s future needs.
NASA
gave Sandia a tremendous honor after exceptional work during STS-131 in
April 2010. NASA managers invited Sandia’s team to be part of the
STS-131 plaque-hanging ceremony, a long-standing tradition to
acknowledge outstanding efforts during the mission. The ceremony took
place in the Mission Evaluation Room’s conference room, which is across
the hall from the historic Apollo Mission Control Center.
Sandia’s
final inspection of Atlantis was July 19, 2011, and all went smoothly. To
mark the occasion, Habbit wrote in an email to his colleagues: “This
milestone is met with conflicting emotions—a great deal of pride and
accomplishment for an excellent contribution to the nation and sadness
to see Sandia’s NASA shuttle program partnership come to closure.”
