During the preflight briefing for STS 121, Wayne Hale was comparing the heat
faced by the TPS during reentry to the surface of the SUN?

Is it that hot?

If reentry was that hot would the TPS tiles and blankets protect the orbiter?

The surface of the sun is not that hot as the corona of the sun.
The surface temperature is a couple of thousands degrees Celcius (I
thought it is about 6000 deg C).
The reentry of an orbiter is not that hot as the surface of the sun,
maximum of about 2000 or 3000 Deg C.

Mr. Hale could have spoken the surface on the sun in a dark spot, there
the temp is very low compared to the rest of the sun.

André

--
73' André, PE1PQX
Mijn site: http://pe1pqx.dyndns.org