Cavity behind the RCC leading edge

Zoltan Szakaly wrote:
When I looked at the video of how they simulated the foam block
colliding with the reinforced carbon carbon leading edge of the
shuttle, I noticed that behind the leading edge (which is a thin sheet
of RCC) there was nothing.

Isn't this highly irresponsible, in other words stupid? Any
homebuilder of kit airplanes knows that filling the cavity with foam
would greatly enhance the strength of the leading edge without
increasing the weight of the structure significantly. The carbon
fibers comprising the composite sheet are strong in
tension/compression but can be bent and broken.

This lack of support from the inside was the direct cause of the hole
that the foam block punched in it.

RCC doesn't get hot during reentry.
It gets very, very hot.

It will instantly char practically anything in contact with it.

What is in contact with it will conduct heat into the wing, in addition
to adding mass.

--
http://inquisitor.i.am/ | | Ian Stirling.
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Two parrots sitting on a perch. One asks the other, "Can you smell fish?"