Something like this is what I've been thinking about post flight. In the heat of the moment ;), I was thinking about what SpaceX was learning about the ship's h

Something like this is what I've been thinking about post flight. In the heat of the moment ;), I was thinking about what SpaceX was learning about the ship's hot spots. After more reflection, I realized that the bigger picture is learning about how quickly it decelerates and how quickly it heats up. With that data, they can design a different reentry profile. E.g. maybe it's better to "plunge" to lower altitudes and experience higher peak pressure for a shorter duration or maybe it's better to have a very gentle but slow reentry to minimize peak pressure. After seeing how robust the ship is (and knowing SpaceX :P), I wouldn't be surprised if they decide to go for a higher peak pressure/temp. A better reentry profile is like massless heat shielding! Maybe more challenging than the profile or optimizing the heat shield though: how are they going to reject heat from the flap joint? Maybe relocating the flaps leeward, like Elon's been saying for a while, will do the trick