For those who don’t remember, back in 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia burst in flames at an altitude of 63 Km during the re-entry phase of the mission. The shuttle and the bodies of the 7 crew members were scattered above several states. Debris found mainly in Texas and Louisiana. The problem with the shuttle back then was a small damage of one of the thermal tiles of the Shuttle, which during the re-entry to the earth’s atmosphere failed and burst into flames…

the damage caused by a foam piece that hit the tile with 600km/h
that piece of foam caused this:

and... disaster strikes!
About a couple of days ago, the Atlantis SS was launched into space with the mission being the repair of the Hubble Telescope. During the Lift off, some of the thermal tiles of the Shuttle were damaged. (oh…not again!) And now scientists in Nasa are questioning the safety of the Space Shuttle’s re-entry ability!
Latest images are showing that the damage is on 4 thermal tiles of the Shuttle. Back in 2003 disaster only two tiles were damaged…

this is the damage of the Atlantis' thermal tiles
Let’s hope for the best!
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