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Re:Chuck Yeager has died by inglor_cz on Tuesday December 08, 2020 @04:31AM (#25343442)
Yes, the demand wasn't there. The space shuttle had enormous LEO capacity, far exceeding actual needs. At least routine needs. As you say, two to three times a year...

AFAIK the final design of the heat shield did not allow for much shorter turnaround time than several weeks. It was necessary to inspect around 30 thousand tiles by "eye and hand" and those tiles were unique, so replacements had to be precision made. This is a system that just eats time of qualified people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_thermal_protecti...

Re:Chuck Yeager has died by qayxc on Tuesday December 08, 2020 @05:12AM (#25343623)
I wonder what SpaceX will do about that.

They also use tiles and they will need to inspect them after each flight, too. Today we have new techniques available. I think the shuttle could be inspected much quicker now than 10-20 years ago - AI can help a lot with automated checks and 3D-printing as well as simplified tile layout (like the Soviets used for Buran) would also shorten inspection time and reduce cost.

I honestly see the main risk with Starship in the heat shield. Musk loves to take unnecessary shortcuts like no flame deflector tunnel on the launch pad which lead to completely avoidable problems (like the SN8 static fire that destroyed an engine due to debris from the launch pad).

The Shuttle had foam damaging tiles and Starship may have debris from the launch or landing damage heat tiles. They will have to be very careful with that and not be arrogant about it.