I can see that you guys got your payments this month, he-he... Seriously, thanks for remembering that. In defense of the "big shots", though, even a strong intuitive feeling seemingly corroborrated by video evidence is insufficient foundation to announce a 'smoking gun'. They simply had to go through the testing anyway. Let's see if I can anticipate the solution... I predict eventual "break away" or jettisonable leading-edge protectors, possibly of titanium or a titanium-composite sandwich, for orbital insertion. Flights might be resumed with minimal hard engineering changes and beefed-up inspections and de-icing, but I think the cosmic "bug deflector" may have advantages. The real solution is a single-stage-to-orbit vehicle, of course. Much more ecconomical, simpler, safer. Chuck President, Foamies of Utah --- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:
What I also remember from the early stage of the investigation is that some NASA bigshot was deriding those who dared suggest such a thing as being "foamies." -- Joe
Chuck As I recall, way back in February you intuitively knew that a piece of foam traveling at hi-speed had enough mass to it to punch a hole through a ceramic tile. It took the rest of the world 6 months to catch up to you according to the news today. Way to go Chuck! I gotta admire that mind of yours. Jim
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