JF Mezei wrote on Mon, 24 Dec 2018
12:38:00 -0500:

Saw a youtube opinion that using stainless steel might be a weight
saving overall because it can act as a heat sink for the heat shield
during re-entry and this could save on heat shield weight.

I have no idea if this is plausible.


Using the whole outer body as a heat sink might let you use more
refractory TPS and less ablative, which wouldn't decrease weight but
would lower costs to refly.


The other argument made was that a shiny reflective surface might
reflect much of the heat generated by the plasma around the skin instead
of absorbing it. (but this would assume the ship's exterior is stainless
steel and I doubt stainless steel has a high enough melting point, or
does it?)


Depends on which stainless alloy you're talking about and how high a
melting point is 'high enough'. There are stainless steels that are
good to temperatures of 1400 C (AISI 330).


--
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to
live in the real world."
-- Mary Shafer, NASA Dryden