[Boundless]

If Columbia's ET was indeed a legacy CFC-11 tank,
this EPA/PC issue may well be a red herring.

I suspect that fixing this involves embedding a
light Kevlar mesh in the foam, with a thread
pitch that ensures any popcorn stays below the
target "safe" size.

[Names Ash Housewares]

"If Columbia's ET was indeed a legacy CFC-11 tank,
this EPA/PC issue may well be a red herring.

I suspect that fixing this involves embedding a
light Kevlar mesh in the foam, with a thread
pitch that ensures any popcorn stays below the
target "safe" size."


Agreed. They did improve shedding considerably on this tank. I expect post flight data to show Discovery to be the cleanest to return yet. Gene Kranz believes there has been great progress made. it is not unresaonble to expect a test flight or two to prove things out. Thats what test flights are for.

[solitas]

...embedding a light Kevlar mesh in the foam, with a thread pitch that ensures any popcorn stays below the target "safe" size.

Good idea; if they have data on how the foam ablates during the tank's use (since the tanks splash into the Indian Ocean have they ever analyzed any?), so they'd know how deep to put the mesh (so it wouldn't aerodynamically affect the surface).