In article ,
says...
"Scott M. Kozel" wrote:

And again, that would depend on the exact nature of the damage, and that
is unknown due to the fact that they never made any attempt to examine it.
The smaller the hole the higher the chance of a successful emergency
repair. A huge hole might be impossible.


ANY hole in the RCC is impossible.


In the interest of educating other readers, I'll continue to provide
cites. No doubt Fred has read the CAIB Report and understands the
issues involved with using RCC as thermal protection on the wing leading
edges.

True, because without the protection of the silicon carbide (applied to
the outside), the reinforced carbon carbon will erode during reentry due
to oxidation. Because of this, any breach in the RCC will continue to
grow during reentry. This is supported by these paragraphs on page 12
of the CAIB Report:

That conclusion is that Columbia re-entered Earth's atmosphere
with a pre-existing breach in the leading edge of its
left wing in the vicinity of Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC)
panel 8. This breach, caused by the foam strike on ascent,
was of sufficient size to allow superheated air (probably exceeding
5,000 degrees Fahrenheit) to penetrate the cavity behind
the RCC panel. The breach widened, destroying the insulation
protecting the wing's leading edge support structure,
and the superheated air eventually melted the thin aluminum
wing spar. Once in the interior, the superheated air began to
destroy the left wing. This destructive process was carefully
reconstructed from the recordings of hundreds of sensors inside
the wing, and from analyses of the reactions of the flight
control systems to the changes in aerodynamic forces.

By the time Columbia passed over the coast of California
in the pre-dawn hours of February 1, at Entry Interface plus
555 seconds, amateur videos show that pieces of the Orbiter
were shedding...

More details about the RCC and its silicon carbide coating can be found
on page 55 onward. This includes details from previous missions where
RCC started to erode (not good).

Jeff
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