Comments on: More Potential Space Shuttle Problems

By: Depth Charge

Depth Charge — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 20:39:20 +0000

Of course, many things on this web-site are over bloated. Look at the remark regarding Iraqi money. Sounds like the Dinar is worthless because the government can't control inflation.

Fortunately though, the shuttle's extrusion problem made it into my local paper (probably the NY Times as well) whereas the Iraqi money situation didn't.

From what I understand, the extrusions are the result of shims between the heat tiles that have been vibrated out of their sockets during launch. This has happened numerous times in the past and can disrupt the "boundary layer" of gas surrounding the tiles as the shuttle returns to earth. The boundary layer separates the ceramics from the 10,000 degree plasma blast during re-entry through a slipstream effect. In the past such occurrences have caused damage, but crew endangerment has never been a serious concern regarding the issue.

By: The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns

The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 06:29:03 +0000

Discovery

I remember a fateful Tuesday morning just before lunch being pulled from my class room by the principle of my school, way back in January 28th, 1986. Normally, being pulled out of a class by the principle is never good....

By: PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science » That Doesn’t Sound Good

PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science » That Doesn’t Sound Good — Mon, 01 Aug 2005 03:05:54 +0000

[...] Of course, OTB’s Rodney Dill makes a legitimate observation: the real problem is that we are taking measurements and assessments now that were never taken, so we don’t know what really is a potential problem and what was there all along. [...]

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 22:29:45 +0000

Rodney,

This is a media thing. The threat of that "drooping material" is almost nothing. It's the media, which obviously has nothing interesting to talk about.

This "drooping material" is quite common, actually.