OT: Space Shuttle returns to flight

[boran_blok]

Imho there are two solutions for this problem, one might be possible with the current shuttle design but might be impossible due to physics, the second is for the next shuttle design.

First the maybe now possible one: why not install a protective jacket around the heatshield of the shuttle ? it doesnt need it when lifting off, only when coming down.

Second, make it so that in the next shuttle the fuel tanks and booster rockets are on the less vulnerable side, this should be the backside for the current space shuttle, or maybe even the sides.

both solutions however are quite expansive I think so it'll be for the next shuttle.

[Baron Munchausen]

boran_blok said:
Imho there are two solutions for this problem, one might be possible with the current shuttle design but might be impossible due to physics, the second is for the next shuttle design.

First the maybe now possible one: why not install a protective jacket around the heatshield of the shuttle ? it doesnt need it when lifting off, only when coming down.

Second, make it so that in the next shuttle the fuel tanks and booster rockets are on the less vulnerable side, this should be the backside for the current space shuttle, or maybe even the sides.

both solutions however are quite expansive I think so it'll be for the next shuttle.

For the 'next generation' they should finish the development of the system rather than leave it as a half-baked hack/kludge. You do know that the shuttle was supposed to have a flying 'lifter' to carry it (like the 747 transporter does but more gracefully) to 50,000 feet or so and then launch from there? The current system with the external tank and the boosters is a kludge because they couldn't get the money to complete the original design. That is the real problem. They are using the shuttle in a way it was not intended/designed for.