Patent ID: 7106215

Claim:
A device for monitoring the integrity of a thermal protection tile system on a space craft, comprising: at least one pair of electrical conductors extending along, and in contact with, multiple tiles of the thermal protection tile system, multiple resistors of known resistance and known location extending between each one of said at least one pair of electrical conductors, each one of said multiple resistors in contact with one of said multiple tiles, resistance measuring means connected to each of two ends of said at least one pair of electrical conductors, computing means incorporating said resistance measuring means, and providing a real time output indicative of the integrity of said thermal protection tile system, and display means for providing a visual indication of the output of said computing means, wherein said computing means continually monitors the resistance in said at least one pair of electrical conductors in real time, alternately at each end of said two ends of said at least one pair of electrical conductors, and provides a visual indication at said display means of a significant resistance change, thereby providing an indication of both location and extent of loss of tile integrity of said thermal protection tile system.