[tjg]

Would you mind expanding on your post a bit? What's crossranging? And how does Ti promote a more forgiving reentry profile?

[hopespringseternal]

Crossrange is basicallly maneuverability on reentry, the ability to change your landing after you have started reentry. To get maximum crossrange, you have to fly through reentry rather than "fall." But "flying" through reentry requires a more or less aerodynamic shape and greatly increases thermal loads, things get a lot hotter.

Titanium has a much higher melting point than aluminum, and retain its strength at much higher temperatures.

The shuttle uses a reentry profile that causes very high thermal loads plus it has an airframe constructed of material (aluminum) that can't withstand high temperatures at all. So it's thermal protection has to be not only very, very high performance, it can't tolerate any breaks or flaws.