Shuttle tile protection

[sorehed]

I'm sure smarter people than me have considered it and decided it was not feasible, so I hope you'll forgive a dumb question. Why doesn't NASA put some sort of small protective cover or shroud over areas of the shuttle likely to be hit by falling debris during launch? I know they couldn't cover everything but at least maybe critical surfaces like wing and tail leading edges. They could be jettisoned at some point prior to reentry.

 

[sorehed]

I knew there was a reason NASA didn't hire me. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[jschaef5]

"a hypersonic snap-roll would be no fun if one of the wing panels didn't release properly?"<br /><br />come on, that would be tons of fun!!!<br /><br /><br /><br />I would guess that the aerodynamics of the wing would be adversly affected also, the wings themselves create enough drag at speed, making them thicker/wider would just add too it, also the added weight these covers might add quite a bit.<br /><br />It seems like a good idea though that should have been given atleast some time to be looked at, maybe s_g will have more. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[qso1]

Mainly the added weight and the fact that they thought they had the ET foam attached to the tank well enough.<br /><br />Its a good question BTW. <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>

 

[mlorrey]

As the primary problem the foam serves to eliminate is boiloff of fuel on the pad, they should build a wall that can swivel around the pad, sheltering the shuttle from the wind. <br /><br />Here's a question: if boiloff is such a problem, then why doesn't Falcon1 have a crapload of foam on it as well?

 

[qso1]

My undestanding was that the ET foam was there to protect the shuttle from condensation icing that forms on the tank.<br /><br />In another thread, I mentioned not having foam on the Saturn V as an example of this because Shuttle_guy alluded to boiloff as the reason for the foam. I checked and found the Saturn V did indeed have foam sprayed on the tank. I was unable to verify if the tank is internal or the skin of the S-II serves as the actual tank wall. The best drawing of the S-II I could find did seem to indicate the LH2 tank is the skin of the S-II, plus Shuttle_guy said he actually sprayed foam on the S-II as a NASA or contractor employee. In any case, it was sprayed on much thinner than what is sprayed on the ET. The ET foam being up to 8 inches thick in some places and the Saturn V S-II was 1 inch if I recall the tech data correctly.<br /><br />In that case, the foam serves an additional purpose on the shuttle ET. I'm not up on the Falcon specs but if the upper stage is not cryogenic, theres no need for foam to prevent boiloff. <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>

 

[qso1]

Actually, there is such a wall or actually panels, on the Rotating Service Structure (RSS) that was installed for high winds including hurricane force winds. The panels were designed to protect the shuttle orbiter.<br /><br />And the RSS does rotate into position. <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>

 

[ltm_se]

So the foam really need to be there until liftoff. But if they cant make the foam rigid or stable to be able to survive the trip to space during acent why dont they make the foam as weak as possible and try to have it blown away or pulled away by tethers at very little speed maybe even before the shuttle clears the tower?<br /><br />I think its a great idea. If you cant make the damn thing hold. You should control when and how it breaks off.<br /><br />Think of the ET beeing a gigantic orange banana with carefully pre-cutted skin. <br /><br />I beliee this issue was discussed right after discoverys return to flight but i dont remember where and why it was not that great of an idea.<br /><br />

 

[CalliArcale]

I think the main problem is coming up with something that will not only be tight enough to do the insulation job properly but still come off cleanly and safely absolutely every single time without damaging the vehicle. It's not as trivial as it may seem. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>