Okay, falling foam chunks. Seems like such a small thing...
I just made the mistake of getting the old movie "The Right Stuff," which I had always wanted to see, only to discover it was a very poorly made movie. Plot was rambling; acting was okay but when you have a crappy script, what can you do?
Anyway, what I can't figure out is--since that was over 40 (yes, FORTY) years ago in the 60s--we could put guys in space on a regular basis back then and yet, with all the supposed advances in technology and science in those many decades, how come we can't even keep the foam on the rockets these days?
So much for the old debunker, "This ain't rocket science."
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Article comments
1 - Victor Plenty
Blame Nixon and Proxmire. They're at the top of the heap of the many culprits who eviscerated the American space program in the 1970s. Watergate is small potatoes compared to any space advocate's cause for despising Nixon's legacy.
2 - Bennett
Plus, the foam insulation IS rocket science. We're talking about something where the outer surface starts to melt when the shuttle goes supersonic, while the surface stuck to the tank is wicked sub-zero, and every temperature in between.
An inherently flawed design, yes.
Fixable to a degree of safety that justifies using the shuttle for the 15 scheduled missions while the next generation of crew/cargo transport is built?
I sincerely hope so.