space shuttle landed safely!
Aug. 21st, 2007 02:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
javasaurusAs you've probably heard by now, the space shuttle landed safely today, returning from orbit a little early to avoid possible interference by Hurricane Dean (currently battering the Yucatan and heading for Mexico City). During liftoff, a chunk of something (speculated to be foam or maybe ice) gashed the belly of the shuttle, leading to fear of a repeat of Columbia.
Prior to the Columbia disaster, foam and other lift-off debris frequently hit the shuttles during lift-off, but concern over normally minor damage was minimal. Now half of each mission is spent going over the shuttle with cameras to identify possible damage and determine if repairs are necessary.
My thought: shield the nose, belly, and wings of of the shuttle with an extra skin -- one that can take the impact of debris during lift-off, and be discarded like the fuel-tanks. Maybe even have it fixed to the main external fuel tank, and separate with that tank. Yes, some extra weight, some extra expense, some extra fuel needed, but if it decreases the amount of time in-space currently used to search for damage, wouldn't it be worth it?
Actually, it doesn't matter much -- the space shuttle program is supposed to be replaced by "Orion" sometime after 2010 anyway, but still -- finding a way to stop the damage, rather than deal with it after the fact, seems a better way.
Prior to the Columbia disaster, foam and other lift-off debris frequently hit the shuttles during lift-off, but concern over normally minor damage was minimal. Now half of each mission is spent going over the shuttle with cameras to identify possible damage and determine if repairs are necessary.
My thought: shield the nose, belly, and wings of of the shuttle with an extra skin -- one that can take the impact of debris during lift-off, and be discarded like the fuel-tanks. Maybe even have it fixed to the main external fuel tank, and separate with that tank. Yes, some extra weight, some extra expense, some extra fuel needed, but if it decreases the amount of time in-space currently used to search for damage, wouldn't it be worth it?
Actually, it doesn't matter much -- the space shuttle program is supposed to be replaced by "Orion" sometime after 2010 anyway, but still -- finding a way to stop the damage, rather than deal with it after the fact, seems a better way.
