OT: Welcome home, Discovery

I would have thought they would attend to the entire tank, or at least the side next to the shuttle. It seems to me that they would especially gone into Over React Mode after Columbia -- was it Colombia or Columbia? -- and have made sure that they would dip the entire external tank on what ever goo they needed to, instead of simplying the new goo to a few select places and cross their collective fingers.

Again, I'm not denegrating the program, but it seems that they would have done more than needed and then engaged in a program of ramping back instead of doing just barely what was needed, then doing a bit more if that wasn't enough.

In any case, you work there and I'm just the Monday Morning Quarterback.

Reply to
J Strickland
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Really! I didn't know it went that high. Maybe I'm thinking of the smaller boosters that drop off.

This part I knew. It turns out that the paint also served to hold the foam on. I've read that even the early shuttles came back with tile damage. I'm not sure what sort of damage was reported, or what might have caused it, maybe the paint didn't hold the foam on as well as I was thinking.

Reply to
J Strickland

Here here.

Best part of living in L.A. - When they bring the Shuttle into Edwards, you don't need a wakeup call or an alarm clock to get up in time to watch the landing. (pause) = ~6 Minutes.

If you have the ET Tiger Team's phone number/E-mail, I have a very simple (KISS) one word message for those Rocket Scientists (TM) looking for a complex solution - Fiberglass.

Take the tank just as it is now, add one layer of woven fabric mat on top, a schmear of catalyzed polyester resin, a second layer in stress spots, and that insulation foam isn't going to go *anywhere*.

You can even put a bit of white tint in the resin and let it double as paint. They cut out painting the ET to "save weight", but I'm sure they can find the weight allowance somewhere.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

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