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Not quite. Each tile has a socket in the middle of the back, which goes over a mounting post which is welded to the steel hull of starship. Also, there are ver

Not quite. Each tile has a socket in the middle of the back, which goes over a mounting post which is welded to the steel hull of starship. Also, there are very few different shapes of heat tiles, and the vast majority of the heat tiles are of exactly the same design and shape. On the space shuttle few, if any heatshield tiles were the same. They were individually manufactured, instead of bulk manufactured to a common specification as SpaceX are doing. Obviously that is going to be far, far more efficient. Yeah, they have had problems with tiles coming off during static fires. Although this seems to have been getting better, and it remains to be seen how bad an issue losing a few patches of single tiles actually is. Under the tiles the structure is stainless steel, while with the space shuttle it was aluminum which is clearly not as tolerant of the extreme heating of re-entry.

ncmncm 5y ago
On STS, exactly zero of the tiles were the same as any other. Many but far from all had a (1) mirror image piece, on the other side, which was really no help. The SS tiles can be, and so are, much thinner than STS tiles because of the steel backing. But losing a tile might, too, not be fatal. The issue is not the shapes or even how to keep them attached during hypersonic flight. The immediate problem is that they require personal attention to each and every tile, after each flight, before they are ready to be re-used. SpaceX engineers are strongly motivated to come up with a system that does not require such treatment, but that does not mean they will get it soon. Or ever. Probably they will be trying to come up with a ceramic-fiber fabric covering that could be peeled off and replaced quickly. It would still need babying, but the vehicle would not need to be there all the while, as with the tiles.

ncmncm 5y ago

On STS, exactly zero of the tiles were the same as any other. Many but far from all had a (1) mirror image piece, on the other side, which was really no help. The SS tiles can be, and so are, much thinner than STS tiles because of the steel backing. But losing a tile might, too, not be fatal. The issue is not the shapes or even how to keep them attached during hypersonic flight. The immediate problem is that they require personal attention to each and every tile, after each flight, before they are ready to be re-used. SpaceX engineers are strongly motivated to come up with a system that does not require such treatment, but that does not mean they will get it soon. Or ever. Probably they will be trying to come up with a ceramic-fiber fabric covering that could be peeled off and replaced quickly. It would still need babying, but the vehicle would not need to be there all the while, as with the tiles.