Green Death
Kirt's Cogitations™ #110

RF Cafe University "Factoids," "Kirt's Cogitations," and "Tech Topics Smorgasbord" are all manifestations of my ranting on various subjects relevant (usually) to the overall RF Cafe theme. All may be accessed on these pages:

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Green Death

Did extreme environmentalism contribute to the Columbia's demise? The Freon foaming agent for the spray-on foam insulation used on the shuttle's main fuel tank changed in the mid 1990s when a concern was raised about the Freon's affect on the ozone layer. Freon worked perfectly and without a separation failure since the inception of the shuttle program. The new foaming agents use water and pentane, which traps moisture and subsequently weakens the foam's adhesion to the primer on the surface of the fuel tank. The problem is exacerbated at high altitudes due to trapped gas expansion in the foam's cells. Numerous instances of foam swelling and breaking off has been reported since the switch. A separated piece of foam that struck the left wing leading edge at takeoff is the prime suspect for causing the Columbia's reentry breakup on February 1, 2003.

Innovative Power Products (IPP) RF Combiners / Dividers - RF Cafe

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...