[null and void]

What art of engineering allows incidents of debris to be incorporated into an acceptable design?

All mechanical engineeering. Your car hits pebbles all the time, and has an air filter. No farm equipment would work if it couldn't tolerate dirt...

[kanawa]

What art of engineering allows incidents of debris to be incorporated into an acceptable design?

All mechanical engineeering. Your car hits pebbles all the time, and has an air filter. No farm equipment would work if it couldn't tolerate dirt...

I appreciate what your saying although your examples are of debris external to the vehicle, whereas in the shuttles case the debris is a functional part of the vehicle. It would be as though my cars tires falling off or the hood disengaging from the car was an acceptable design.

No?