This NASA Space Shuttle Orbiter Tile, also referred to as HRSI – high-temperature reusable surface insulation – is one of hundreds of tiles used as heat shielding. While this tile was not mission flown, it is still made from the same materials as those that were flown in space.

Heat shielding protects spacecraft as they return through the Earth’s atmosphere. The small individual thermal-resistant tiles of the orbiter could be replaced if they were damaged. All these insulating tiles are marked with numbers that indicate where they were attached to the orbiter. This particular tile came from the side of the nose of the Shuttle. To cover all the necessary surfaces, they were manufactured in a variety of unique shapes, and fit together like puzzle pieces on the orbiter. The orbiter ("Space Shuttle") was was part of the Space Shuttle program, the fourth human spaceflight program that flew from 1981 to 2011, for a total of 135 missions.