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I thought that while the spare tiles did exist, there was never an actual safe procedure for replacing tiles (that didn't require being docked to the ISS) they

I thought that while the spare tiles did exist, there was never an actual safe procedure for replacing tiles (that didn't require being docked to the ISS) they were only carried to be available when the choice was between losing the entire crew on reentry or risking a crew member? I don't quite understand how the airplane shape made it easier to model the loading and positioning? (Not saying you're wrong, just doesn't fit my intuition and I'm curious). My understanding is that Shuttle didn't have to answer the questions about tile gaps etc because it used glue rather than mechanical attachments, if that's what you mean by positioning.

chrisbrandow 1y ago
Having seen the shuttle in person in LA museum, I was struck by how much it looked like a plane sitting on a flat heat shield surface
mayama 1y ago
> I don't quite understand how the airplane shape made it easier to model the loading and positioning? (Not saying you're wrong, just doesn't fit my intuition and I'm curious). You can approximate space shuttle reentry to roughly a 2d surface entering atmosphere. Because of airplane shape, the tile side faces atmosphere and the plasma goes around plane edges. Where as starship being cylinder doesn't have any separation boundary and plasma roughly goes more than 180% of the cylinder.
- nick49488171 1y ago
  IR reflectivity of stainless must help a good deal for the unshielded parts. I wonder if the internal surface is painted or finished in a way to help radiate the heat away internally. Is there any active cooling of any of the skin that we know of?
  - dotnet00 1y ago
    They've been testing some active cooling tiles (believed to be responsible for the orange residue on the heat shield after reentry in this latest test), but otherwise the only "active cooling" of the skin would be due to the cryogenic propellants being in contact with the inner side of the skin.
- dotnet00 1y ago
  Ah, that makes sense!

chrisbrandow 1y ago

Having seen the shuttle in person in LA museum, I was struck by how much it looked like a plane sitting on a flat heat shield surface

mayama 1y ago

> I don't quite understand how the airplane shape made it easier to model the loading and positioning? (Not saying you're wrong, just doesn't fit my intuition and I'm curious). You can approximate space shuttle reentry to roughly a 2d surface entering atmosphere. Because of airplane shape, the tile side faces atmosphere and the plasma goes around plane edges. Where as starship being cylinder doesn't have any separation boundary and plasma roughly goes more than 180% of the cylinder.

nick49488171 1y ago
IR reflectivity of stainless must help a good deal for the unshielded parts. I wonder if the internal surface is painted or finished in a way to help radiate the heat away internally. Is there any active cooling of any of the skin that we know of?
- dotnet00 1y ago
  They've been testing some active cooling tiles (believed to be responsible for the orange residue on the heat shield after reentry in this latest test), but otherwise the only "active cooling" of the skin would be due to the cryogenic propellants being in contact with the inner side of the skin.
dotnet00 1y ago
Ah, that makes sense!