On Sat, 6 Aug 2005 09:23:22 -0400, (G=EMC^2
Glazier) wrote:

Well it won't be long before Discovery will be coming down. Some one
once posted that it would be a good idea if shuttles could fold in their
wings. Its the underbelly missing or possible tiles coming off that is
the biggest problem,and next is the lead edge of the wings. Angle
hitting the air is critical with an object with wings.(flipping flat
stone effect) I've made stuff using cement(concrete) finished the
surface with fine marble dust(Georgia marble). No seams smooth as a
baby's ass. Can take great heat. I wonder what each of those shuttle
tiles weighs? Bert

Bert,
Since the tiles are custom cut for each location and vary in thickness from
1 to 5 inches depending on where they are located, they are all different
weights. The ones toward the front are thicker than the ones toward the
rear. The tiles come in 2 different densities, so the weight is given by
the cubic foot of uncut material based on it's density. The tiles used
around the wing's leading edge, nose , landing gears, external tank
interface, umbilical doors, vent doors and vertical stabilizer leading edge
weigh around 21 or 22 lbs per cubic foot of material. The rest of the tiles
weight about 9 to 10 lbs per cubic foot.


-JATO
http://jatobservatory.org