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SUNNYVALE, California, May 1, 1992 -- When the Space Shuttle Endeavour rockets into space on its maiden voyage, it will be protected by ceramic tiles manufactured by Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc. of Sunnyvale, California. NASA's entire orbiter fleet -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and now Endeavour -- is protected from the searing heat of reentry by Lockheed's Reusable Surface Insulation. Endeavour will be protected with over 26,000 tiles. Earlier orbiters used as many as 34,000 tiles, but as the knowledge base increased, tiles on surfaces that experienced moderate reentry temperatures, such as the upper fuselage, were eventually replaced with flexible insulating blankets.

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