Re: Space Shuttle Folly of Our AgeThe space shuttle.


"Rick Nelson" <rainbow07@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:42b21e0c_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> It is a really dumb design - we could make blackbirds out of pure
> titanium but couldn't spare any for our astronauts?

Actually, it was other programs that were using up titanium at the time, not
the SR-71 program. Besides, what metal the structure was made out of
wouldn't have made much of a difference, since the design is flawed in so
many other ways. If you're thinking that titanium would have helped
Columbia, think again. Titanium loses strength at a higher temperature than
aluminum, but it's thermal conductivity is much lower, so it's easier to
have a localized burn through with titanium than aluminum.

If anything, with titanium, the TPS could have been made thinner and
lighter, because the structure could take more heat. Unfortunately, this
would also make the debris tolerance lower, which could actually make the
likelyhood of tile damage that could lead to a burn through higher rather
than lower.

> What a load of BS -
> let me think back... Wasn't it a mainly Repbulican congress that
> defunded NASA in favor of the military after Apollo?

The reduction of NASA's budget started before the first moon landing, and as
Rusty points out, you're wrong about the Republicans controlling congress
during that time period.

> Gee - go figure
> how we're racing down the same hole now..

Not exactly. NASA's budget is essentially steady these days. It's just
that NASA has never gotten used to this lower level of funding. This is
compared to the "glory days" of Apollo R&D when they could essentially waste
anything but time. NASA keeps hoping that their funding will increse by
leaps and bounds, but I doubt it ever will.

Jeff
--
Remove icky phrase from email address to get a valid address.


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