[Rockitz]

I've been saying since Monday on this forum that it's not foam. The aerodynamics is not right. It would never make it over to the orbiter from the ET. It's too light and the aero forces are too high. I have a colleague doing a calculation that I believe will confirm this.

[XBob]

173 - "I've been saying since Monday on this forum that it's not foam. "

see 178

the tank insulation is a totally different animal than the tile insulation, and much more coheresive.

though, the more info I get, the more I think it is possibly ice saturated tank foam.

[XBob]

If the ice weighted 1 lb and was going 300mph, it would have 6K ft-lbs of energy. the heavier the patch, the less the relative speed of the impact - remember that the debris was going the same speed as the orbiter when it broke loose. A light fluffy object would decelerate rapidly from the air-resistance, but a heavier object, such as ice, would both maintain its forward momentum, and be more prone to flutter outward. If uncoated ice, a flat piece of ice would likely begin coming apart just from the stresses when it turned perpendicular to the air-stream. 273 posted on 02/06/2003 11:22 AM PST by lepton