Thanks. I read an article on here somewhere today that addressed cracks in the shuttles. I'm afraid I don't remember the location either, but they were 0.10" to 0.30" in size. Perhaps this reporter was thinking he could lead into an area where the aging shuttle could be more suspect that initially thought. I don't know. Some of the blow-off responses were appropriate, but I thought this reporter might have been on to something.
As for stress, isn't re-entry more stress than most airliners experience, or did I misunderstand you?
The cracks were in the "flow liners" in the bellows between the orbiter and the SSMEs. No big deal, IMO.
Yes, I am saying that the stresses on the orbiter during re-entry are less than on an airliner during normal operations.
Columbia, especially, was way overdesigned, structurally. That's why it could have never reached the ISS. It was too heavy.