Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site cbdkc1.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!cbdkc1!gwe From: gwe@cbdkc1.UUCP ( George Erhart ) Newsgroups: net.columbia Subject: Re: Columbia's Tiled Damaged by Rain Message-ID: <1095@cbdkc1.UUCP> Date: Thu, 15-Aug-85 07:44:53 EDT Article-I.D.: cbdkc1.1095 Posted: Thu Aug 15 07:44:53 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 17-Aug-85 16:26:23 EDT References: <4010@alice.UUCP> <199@mot.UUCP> <521@calmasd.UUCP> <47@darwin.UUCP> <1400@cbosgd.UUCP> Reply-To: gwe@dkc1.UUCP ( George Erhart ) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Columbus Lines: 22 In article <1400@cbosgd.UUCP> mark@cbosgd.UUCP (Mark Horton) writes: >In article <47@darwin.UUCP> ian@darwin.UUCP writes: >>>> how interesting! Columbia's tiles survive atmosphere re-entry only to get >>>> beat up by a rainstorm (which you'd think would be gentle) coming at it at >>>> a couple hundred mph. >> >>>A several hundred mph blast of water is extremely destructive. >>>Fortunately in a storm the water is dispersed, but I suspect it compares >>>to a sand blaster in terms of destructive potential. > >Regular airliners manage to fly at several hundred miles per hour >and fly through clouds and rainstorms without much trouble. They >seem to have metal skins designed to not hit the air/water head on, >but rather deflect it over them. Aerodynamics, right? > >I would think the same property would apply to the shuttle. I once saw a sample of the shuttle's tile skin. It looked like the kind of brick you see inside a ceramic kiln. It looked very soft and absorbant. While the shuttle *is* aerodynamic to some extent, it is still very close to a flying rock. It does not have the very sharp features that an airliner possesses.