Talk:Space Shuttle thermal protection system

message: I'm making some revisions and additions to this article. Any comments or questions, please discuss here. Joema 15:11, 9 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I’m working on some drawings for this article. I will replace the NASA image of the Space Shuttle diagram for a better one, and I will also upload the translated version of a drawing I created for the Spanish version. All this, plus some references and bibliography, in a couple of days. Luis María Benítez 23:12, 12 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, the tile drawing was added, but I still have to upload 2 more: a thermogram of heat impact on the Shuttle’s surfaces and other showing the tiles’ locations. I’m slowly working on this. Luis María Benítez 15:36, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Revisions and additions 

message: It should be noted somewhere that early Columbia missions featured an all tile (no felt) design which was later refurbished and brought in line with the new felt system that all the later orbiters were delivered with. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 01:36, 19 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Early missions 

message: This image should be used here I think to make clear how normal Tile damage was before the Columbia accident, and how much damage the orbiter can take as long as it's not RCC damage. --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 01:36, 19 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Damage image

message: The article was recently moved from "Space shuttle thermal protection system" to "Space Shuttle thermal protection system" with the summary "Space Shuttle is always capitalized". This is incorrect. The word "space shuttle/shuttle" is not a proper noun, nor is orbiter, unless they are used in conjunction with a specific, named orbiter, such as Space Shuttle Discovery. Please refer to NASA's own shuttle page, which has the header image seen here: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/133493main_openingtext2c.gif, and at the left, a "Fact" box, which this month has: "Mission STS-122 will be the eighth time space shuttle Atlantis has visited the International Space Station.", as well as NASA's technical TPS documents linked in this article, which do not capitalize orbiter, or shuttle, here, along with the media, as seen from The Associated Press, Aviation Week, Space.com and CBS. It is a common misconception, but it is like saying that "sedan" is capitalized, or "hatchback", when referring to a car. If the car's name has "Sedan" in it, then it is capitalized, but when speaking of a generic sedan, it is not. 
The precedence for this naming on Wikipedia can be seen in the Featured List, List of space shuttle missions, which would not have been featured had it been named improperly, and the peer review of Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which also concurs. "The article capitalizes "shuttle" in many places, I think incorrectly. Space shuttle isn't a proper noun so should be lower-case." Finally, I refer to Webster's dictionary definition, which does not capitalize it, and clarifies it is not a proper noun:  "Main Entry: space shuttle, function: noun, definition: A reusable spacecraft designed to transport people and cargo between earth and space." Confirmed by YourDictionary: here. I did contact the editor who moved the article, but they did not reply to my query, and do not seem to be active. 
I'm wondering if it would be more appropriate to move this to Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System, as it seems to be a full, proper noun when used all at once, and it was suggested this way above, during the AFD discussion. However, if it isn't technically a proper name, it should be moved back to "Space shuttle thermal protection system", for proper capitalization. Thoughts? Ariel♥Gold 11:36, 20 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Requested move 

message: I wanted to address several issues with the information in the article.
-The use of the term "Advanced Flexible Reusable Surface Insulation (AFRSI)" in the context of the orbiter is incorrect. AFRSI is a term used during the development of an improvement on the flexible insulation. The wide spread use of this term for orbiter TPS could be from the citing of old, out-of-date sources. Flexible Insulation Blanket or FIB is the correct terminology for the newer improved flexible insulation that has replaced most of the LRSI tiles and FRSI blankets. I do not know for sure if AFRSI is an early term for FIB, or if they are two different products. However, I do know that Flexible Insulation Blankets (FIB's) are used on the orbiter today. I suggest replacing every instance of "Advanced Flexible Reusable Surface Insulation (AFRSI)" with "Flexible Insulation Blanket (FIB)."
-It might should be noted that the "ShuttleTPS2col" image is of the original orbiter TPS layout and is not accurate of today's configuration. For example the image shows a large number of LRSI tiles, when there are only a few used today around the crew windows and OMS pods. 
-Currently there are approximately 24,300 tiles not 31,000 used due to LRSI reduction.
-Strain Isolator Pads (SIP) and gap filler are described but filler bar isn't (not to be confused with gap filler). Filler bar is crucial in countering the "zipper effect" and should also be included.
-The sentence;
"HRSI tiles have the black glossy appearance because of waterproofing coating made of tetrasilicide and borosilicate glass,"
is misleading. The coating on the tiles is Reaction Cured Glass (RCG) of which borosilicate glass is one of several ingredients. It is not applied for waterproofing but to protect the porous silica and to increase the heat sink properties. The tiles aren't coated on the bottom with RCG so it would be useless as waterproofing. Dimethylethoxysilane is injected into tiles to waterproof. Densifying the tile with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) helps some aslo. LRSI tiles also have an RCG coating but are white because of differing ingredients.
Most of my data is from first hand accounts of USA tile techs and management. For an good online reference go here  93f2 (talk) 12:51, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Updated information 

message: LI-900 tiles are not mentioned in this article. They are typical Space Shuttle TPS tiles that have remarkable thermal protection properties. (An LI-900 tile exposed to a temperature of 1000 K on one side will remain merely warm to the touch on the other side.) WinterSpw (talk) 02:34, 6 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[LI-900]] tiles are not mentioned in this article 

message: Hey, 
Although I dont have a source yet for the information (heard it from someone who worked at NASA), when a shuttle launches and returns, the system is examined and from that a TPS report is generated.  Would it be worthwhile (with sources) to include that such a report exists, seeing as it is similar to the movie Officespace?
(and yes, the TPS team does get office flack for the cover sheets :P)Dtheweather9 (talk) 02:17, 27 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: absolutely ! --TheDJ (talk • contribs) 13:01, 27 March 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  TPS Report 

message: The article mentions at the end of this paragraph Space_shuttle_thermal_protection_system#High-temperature_reusable_surface_insulation_.28HRSI.29 that the HRSI is useful in protecting against the large differences in temperature experienced in LEO when the shuttle alternates between direct Sun exposure and the Earth's shadow. While these differences are great, the low end mentioned in the article (-270 C) is not realistic. That kind of temperature takes a long time to reach even in intergalactic space, far far away from any powerful source of radiation. Since in LEO any object experiences radiation from at least two important sources (the Sun and reflections from the Earth) plus the added energy from friction with rarefied gas molecules, the temperature is much higher than -270 C in the shade. AFAIK, the number is somewhere around -160 C but I have no linkable source for that and I'm no scientist.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.254.61.55 (talk) 12:42, 23 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  The low end of the temperatures experienced by the shuttle is not so close to absolute zero 

message: FOLD IN HALF
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-XXL-Gaming-Mouse-Pad/dp/B06VVXMJ1S/ref=sr_1_3_acs_sk_pb_2_sl_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549021672&sr=8-3-acs&keywords=mouse+mat+large
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-npRNeJzU8T0/US8hOaldHMI/AAAAAAAAAs8/5EyhnCFT4iE/s1600/The-Pyramids-at-Giza.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onyx
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_thermal_protection_system
YOU DO NOT ACTUALLY HAVE ANY ENGINEERING PROBLEMS???
86.171.248.126 (talk) 11:58, 1 February 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  https://twitter.com/Space_Station/status/1091096471179587590 

message: The article currently claims
An uncoated HRSI tile held in the hand feels like a very light foam, less dense than styrofoam, and the delicate, friable material must be handled with extreme care to prevent damage. The coating feels like a thin, hard shell and encapsulates the white insulating ceramic to resolve its friability, except on the uncoated side. Even a coated tile feels very light, lighter than a same-sized block of styrofoam. As expected for silica, they are odorless and inert.[citation needed]
However, it also says that the tile density was 140 kg/m^3. According to the Polystyrene article, the density of expanded polystyrene is 11-32 kg/m^3, and the density of extruded polystyrene is 28–45 kg/m^3, so this seems dubious.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vilhelm.s (talk • contribs) 21:24, 7 March 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lighter than styrofoam? 

message: How many tiles did each Orbiter have ? Article says 24,300 but the adjacent source seems not ideal. Later it says Columbia had 31,000 tiles (a tertiary source says 30,759). Maybe smaller tiles were replaced with fewer larger tiles during the life of an orbiter ? - Rod57 (talk) 11:46, 27 August 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  How many tiles on each orbiter