NASA STS-75 - The Tether Incident

STS-75 was a United States NASA Space Shuttle mission, the 19th mission of the Columbia orbiter. The primary objective of STS-75 was to carry the Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R) into orbit and to deploy it spaceward on a conducting tether. The mission also flew the United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-3) designed to investigate materials science and condensed matter physics. STS-75 mission scientists hoped to deploy the tether to a distance of 20.7 kilometers (12.9 mi). Over 19 kilometers of the tether were deployed before the tether broke. It remained in orbit for a number of weeks and was easily visible from the ground, appearing something like a small but surprisingly bright fluorescent light traveling through the sky. TSS-1R. TSS-1R tether composition [NASA]. The electric conductor of the tether was a copper braid wound around a nylon (Nomex) string. It was encased in teflon-like insulation, with an outer cover of kevlar, inside a nylon (Nomex) sheath. The culpri