Newsgroups: sci.space.shuttle Path: utzoo!henry From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer) Subject: Re: space news from Aug 15 AW&ST Message-ID: <1988Sep22.162429.13334@utzoo.uucp> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology References: <1988Sep12.032459.25617@utzoo.uucp> <972@netxcom.UUCP> <1988Sep17.222225.9422@utzoo.uucp> <6768@ihlpl.ATT.COM> Date: Thu, 22 Sep 88 16:24:29 GMT In article <6768@ihlpl.ATT.COM> knudsen@ihlpl.ATT.COM (Knudsen) writes: >Is an ET much of a threat if it re-enters at an unpredictable >time? Are there any massive solid parts of it that would >reach the ground in one piece at high velocity, like the Skylab's >telescope mount? Overall the ET is pretty flimsy. Skylab's biggest problem was its film safe, actually. There's nothing particularly massive on the ET, since it's built to be thrown away; I would think probably the biggest single lumps are the attachment struts, which have to be strong. However, there's just plain a *lot* of metal there, even if it's mostly fairly thin tank walls. And NASA is paranoid about the whole issue. -- NASA is into artificial | Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology stupidity. - Jerry Pournelle | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu