During the launch they bragged about the fancy alloy they were going to use for the exoskeleton, going so far as to hit it with a sledge hammer on stage. The a

During the launch they bragged about the fancy alloy they were going to use for the exoskeleton, going so far as to hit it with a sledge hammer on stage. The alloy gets its strength from fancy hardening methods, which are undone by high heat, so welding weld repairs are not an option. I would guess that the exoskeleton idea was engineer driven, but had to be walked back by other departments.