HOUSTON -- From the space shuttle to the International Space Station, and research projects in between, Beverly Anderson works in the Johnson Space Center (JSC) office that doles out the federal funds fueling these endeavors.

Normally the last place you’d find this 22-year veteran of the space program is inside the Building 9 workshops and laboratories that push the frontier of human exploration.

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She, along with other administrative and support personnel, is actually helping to construct a spacecraft -- the X 38 Crew Return Vehicle -- by bonding thermal tiles to the vehicle’s fuselage panels. Without the tiles akin to the ones on a space shuttle, the X 38 would burn up after reentering Earth’s atmosphere.
 

"I thought it sounded interesting and came over for an interview and orientation," she said. "When I went through the building and saw the tiles, that’s what really grabbed me. I thought it would be fabulous to work in this program."

In the last two years, about eight people have left their desks and workstations to get hands-on experience with X 38 number 201, a test vehicle destined to leave Earth aboard a space shuttle in April 2002 and then return in an un-piloted test.

Spacecraft construction 101

While designing a spacecraft is indeed rocket science, construction falls to technicians and some tasks such as attaching the thermal tiles can be taught quickly to people with little or no experience.

John Muratore, the X 38 project manager, said the skills to work with the tiles take only about two to three months to learn and then the newly minted spacecraft builders get to work.

But why not hire technicians or other professionals to place the about 800 tiles on the craft?

"There are people all across the Johnson Space Center who fill critical roles in making the spacecraft fly -- the space shuttle and space station -- and they’re in all sorts of roles and very few of them get a chance to put their hands on the hardware," Muratore said. "When we were building the X 38, we were thinking about how we could get all sorts of these critical team members involved and actually get the satisfaction of working on flight hardware."

Dale Martin has worked at the space center since 1967 and jumped at the chance in 1998 to join the team for a tour of duty.

"It seemed like a wonderful opportunity to take a break from my space station work and to get my hands on flight hardware again," he said. "Tiles, as you know, are what makes or breaks the space program these days. We can’t get the shuttle back into the atmosphere without those tiles -- same thing with the X 38."
 

Crew to build the first and only

The crews in Buildings 9 and 220 at JSC are building the only test model of the Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) to fly in space -- NASA awards a contract this summer to produce production versions. Along with being the only space destined X 38, Number 201 is probably the only spacecraft ever constructed at Johnson Space Center.

In 2006, the seven-seat CRV will be taken to the International Space Station. It will be used as an orbital lifeboat should the crew have to abandon ship. It replaces the three-seat Russian Soyuz module used till then.

Additionally, the X 38 project uses already proven technology such as the X 24 series of lifting-body designs flown in the 1970s by NASA, as well as off-the-shelf parts like avionics and software.

Possible variations include using the CRV as a spaceborne pickup truck to move cargo about the station and a version that can be launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket.

Practice makes perfect

Before volunteers work with the actual tiles, they practice on space-shuttle tiles produced at Kennedy Space Center in the same facility where X 38 tiles are manufactured. Bare hands never touch the tiles and latex gloves prevent oil from contaminating the surface, which could prevent good adhesion.

"The ad said no experience necessary and that would be me," said Marilyn Davison who spent eight months working with X 38 tiles. "We had extensive training because it’s such detailed work."

Each of the black, compressed silicon-and-glass-fiber tiles comes in its own box. All of the roughly 2-inch (5-centimeter) thick and 8-inch (20-centimeter) wide tiles are custom made, and no two are alike.

"You have to be kind and gentle with the tiles," Anderson said. "You have to be patient and take your time and do the best you can on each step."

Before bonding to the carbon fiber plates that make up the body of the X 38, the tiles go through several processing steps to prepare them. Besides curing them in an oven, pads and material are fitted that take up the space between the tiles. Finally, the tiles are test fitted before applying the adhesive.

The volunteers follow charts and diagrams that show how each tile should be placed.

Unlike the shuttle tiles that are on a relatively flat surface, the X 38 tiles sometimes have curves and bends in them to conform to the bathtub-like bottom of the craft.
 

The job isn’t done until the paperwork is finished

Every tile has its own unique serial number to identify it and a dossier documenting everything about it.

"The vehicle will weigh less than the paperwork," joked Martin as he stood in front of numerous file folders. Every step of the tile’s processing, from initial manufacturing to its placement on the vehicle is recorded.

"The tiles come here with what we fondly call their birth certificate," Anderson said as she held an open file. "Every person that had something to do with this has their initials on this piece of paper."

Quality control is critical since the craft will be exposed to temperatures above 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,090 degrees Celsius) upon reentering Earth’s atmosphere.

More than just punching the clock

Besides dressing casually and having regular hours, the volunteers take a real interest in their work. It’s more than just a job; it can be personal.

"I didn’t realize I would have such strong feelings, but I have the greatest ones when we glue a tile on a panel," Anderson said. "After the first time, I had this tremendous, overwhelming emotional response that almost brought tears to my eyes."

To Davison, it’s not NASA’s spacecraft, it’s hers.

"After you completed and saw a panel, it was such a feeling of ownership," she said. "I just felt like it was my vehicle now. It was exciting to see what everyone else was doing and seeing my small part in it."

Muratore said it’s the chance to do something different and actually work on a spacecraft that gets potential volunteers excited.

Anderson plans on watching the skies and NASA TV when number 201, her 201, goes into space for its test in 2002.

"I’ll see it come out of the sky and I’ll know some of the tiles on that vehicle I worked on, and I’m anticipating feeling a greater sense of accomplishment that I’ve really done something personal and intimate in the space program," she said.