This specimen is a rare, mission-flown, showcase piece of a Space Shuttle tire, removed from Columbia after STS-52. Originally, it was a part of the landing gear of the craft. Tires like this one were rated for up to six landings, and though usually used just twice, tire rotation was a common practice.

Several showcase specimens are available and each is a one-of-a-kind collector's item. Not only did the tire need to accommodate of the orbiter (upwards of 240,000 pounds), but also extreme & rapid heating due to surface friction as the craft made ground contact at speeds of up to 250 mph.

The specimen ships with a certificate of authenticity as well as an informational photo card with details about Space Shuttle Columbia.

Please Note: References to disposition paperwork on the specimen card are for context only. All original paperwork resides in the Mini Museum Collection. See information on the original artifact below.

"The powered flight took a total of about eight and a half minutes. It seemed to me it had gone by in a flash. We had gone from sitting still on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center to traveling at 17,500 miles an hour in that eight and a half minutes. It is still mind-boggling to me. I recall making some statement on the air-to-ground radio for the benefit of my fellow astronauts, who had also been in the program a long time, that it was well worth the wait." ~ Bob Crippen, STS-1 astronaut, regarding first flight of the Space Shuttle, April, 12 1981

Space Shuttle missions were always at high risk for failure during the 30-minute re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and upon landing safely at Kennedy Space Center or Edwards Air Force Base.

As the shuttle would glide at velocities just below the speed of sound, the four rear main landing gear tires and two front nose tires would need to accommodate not only the weight of the orbiter (upwards of 240,000 pounds ) - but also the extreme, rapid tire heating due to surface friction as the craft made ground contact at speeds of up to 250 mph. As a result, a blown tire was always considered a probable failure upon landing, and balancing this failure with the weight requirements was a challenging task.

Yet, if you've seen a Space Shuttle in person, you've probably noticed that the tires are not much larger than a truck tire. However, they are quite different in their construction, and their performance is a testament to engineering and rigorous testing.

The chart here illustrates the typical load profile a tire is subject to during landing. It comes from the same "Orbiter Wheel and Tire Certification" study quoted at the start of this section. The intensity of the dynamic load profile tests each tire is subject to is just incredible:

"Dynamic load profile tests include 6 landings and 6 taxi tests per tire of which: 1 landing is a tire chilled to -35 ° F, 1 landing is a tire preheated to +135 ° F, 5 landings represent a 207,000 pound landing weight, 1 landing represents a 240,000 pound landing weight and crosswinds, and range of 0 to 20 knots."

The disposition paperwork which accompanied this tire did not indicate the tire's full mission history aside from the removal of the tire from the Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) after STS-52. However, it is possible that it was used with other orbiters. Nose landing gear tires like this one were rated for up to six landings, and though usually used just twice, tire rotation was a common practice.

Please Note: The item on offer above is a fragment of this mission-flown tire. The original scrap tags and documentation remain in the Mini Museum collection. Photos here are provided for context only.

"The Space Shuttle Orbiter wheel and tire design combined conventional aircraft materials into one of the most highly optimized assemblies yet developed. This is not obvious until the performance limits are compared to similarly-sized equipment on commercial aircraft, which will reveal that the Orbiter's wheel/tire load capability is nearly twice as high." ~ NASA Engineer Carlisle C. Campbell, Jr., "Orbiter Wheel and Tire Certification" NASA Johnson Space Center, 1985

The successful launch and return of Columbia heralded a new age in space exploration. Envisioned in the 1950’s as a fleet of reusable spacecraft, Columbia was joined by Challenger, Discovery, Endeavor, and Atlantis.

Over the course of 135 missions, the fleet delivered hundreds of astronauts and thousands of tons of materials into orbit. They also deployed satellites and served as a platform for the advancement of science while traveling more than half a billion miles during three decades of operation.