A Shell For The External Tank?

[rogerinnh]

Is there any possibility that NASA could solve the problems of the external shuttle tank shedding insulating foam by encasing the whole thing in a solid shell? Sure it would mean extra weight, but eliminating the shedding problem would seem to be worth the lighter payload requirements.

 

[vogon13]

Want to flight qualify a major change to the shuttle with only (maybe) 4 flights to go?<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[qso1]

NASA should not have to go to such extremes. Building a shell for the tank would entail a shell at least half the dry mass of the ET which would reduce shuttle payload capacity to virtually nill. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>