At 09:21 AM 03/02/03, you wrote:
>When your coming in at Mach 25, it's not very feasible.
>
>But even if they found a problem in orbit, almost all of the tiles
>are custom cut and fitted.  I don't even know if they carry spares.
>I'd also hate to think about trying to glue them in place in space.
>
>-Charlie
>On Sun, Feb 02, 2003 at 02:41:10PM -0500, Barry Michels wrote:
> > Remember the old SeaQuest DSV show?  They had small pods that would
> follow the
> > ship around and act as eyes on the outside of the ship.  Cheap,
> maneuverable
> > sensor pods...  Wonder why NASA doesn't do something similar for the
> shuttle
> > program...

When they were first working on the program they talked about being able to
replace them
in orbit. It wasn't an exact fit but generic tile covering with an ablative
adhesive underneath
applied  with probably a few thousand dollar caulking gun. I've never heard
of it mentioned
after so it may not have made the grade in testing but they did have a system.

Dave

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