Hail Monitor Sensor

Figure 1 shows damage to the space shuttle’s external tank (ET) that was likely caused by a pea-sized hailstone. Because of the potential damage to the ET while exposed to the weather, it is important to remotely monitor the hail fall in the vicinity of the shuttle pad. If hail of sufficient size and quantity is detected by a hail-monitoring system, the ET would be subsequently thoroughly inspected for damage.