Re: [sarex] how to fix the shuttle fuel tank

[Bruce Bostwick <lihan161051@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

OK, but Max Q is somewhere in the 1000 mph range ...

They really do have to be careful changing the characteristics of the  
ET insulation, because that regime out beyond Max Q is a pretty  
exotic place and stuff doesn't behave quite like you'd expect.

(Imagine a foam separation with a net outer layer, where the detached  
foam chunk rips out a large section of netting that all falls through  
the space between the ET and the lower surface of the orbiter and  
maybe wipes out a fairly large tile area on the way through.)

Tangential: Anyone else noticed that a fair bit of hot SRB exhaust  
appears to settle in the slipstream behind the ET at a particular  
point of the ascent?  I always used to think it was a refraction  
artifact from one of the various shock waves they make in the low  
Mach regime, but on the last launch it was pretty clear that exhaust  
hot enough to be luminous was riding the ET's slipstream for some  
time on the way up .. which was pretty noticeable in the photos of  
the ET after sep that showed the "barbecued" appearance of the aft  
end of the ET.  I wonder if that was an anticipated effect when the  
design was first being put together .. ;-)

On Aug 17, 2005, at 10:59 AM, Roger Kolakowski wrote:

> Maybe you should have suggested duct tape, at least they wouldn't  
> have had
> to think much, and I believe Nascar has it certified to 250 MPH.
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