Spaceflight Now


Tile image
NASA IMAGES
Posted: February 25, 2003

This is a view of a single thermal protection system tile from the space shuttle Columbia that was recently recovered near Powell, Texas, as part of the ongoing debris recovery effort. The top view is of the upper surface of the tile and shows strange heating effects and orange specks. The lower view shows the underside of the tile and appears to show a gouge out of the tile material.

Tile top surface Tile top surface