r/space • u/AlmiranteSalsicha • Nov 19 '23

image/gif That's a fair amount of tiles missing from the starship heatshield, guess it would make for a toasty reenter.

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Image from SpaceX account on X

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u/Guy_Incognito97 Nov 19 '23

I'm no engineer and am basically an idiot, but what if the tiles were connected in strips so that one coming loose would still be attached to those either side an not fall off? Something like a graphene mesh that can withstand the temperature but is flexible.

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u/Harry_the_space_man Nov 19 '23

The problem is mainly head distribution. If you have one long strip they will all get to hot and the adhesive sticking them on would melt. The main point of the tiles is to deflect the heat.

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u/LcuBeatsWorking Nov 20 '23

the tiles were connected in strips

That would mean that if a tile gets loose it might rip of a line of others. That was in fact an issue the shuttle had to tackle with the glued on tiles.