Aug 9 2005
As NASA prepares for Discovery astronauts to return home, two engineers at the University of Missouri-Rolla are working to get the spaceflight program back on solid ground. Among them:
Dr. William P. Schonberg, chair and professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at UMR, is an expert on space debris through the study of the hypervelocity impact phenomena. His research has been used in orbital debris impact assessment, as well as spacecraft design and protection.
Dr. Reza Zoughi, the Schlumberger Professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of UMR’s Applied Microwave Nondestructive Testing Laboratory, is collaborating with NASA to develop a new, more thorough technique to inspect the space shuttle’s external tank spray-on foam insulation. Microwave and millimeter wave testing are nondestructive methods that can produce high-resolution images of insulation flaws, such as air bubbles (called “voids”) and debonds, which are separations between layers of foam or between a layer of foam and the fuel-tank base.