But those insulating tiles have always bothered me. I am old enough to have remembered the first shuttle flight, and it seems to me that the tiles have been a problem from the start. Even by the standards of the 1970s, they always seemed a clumsy, low-tech solution. Not that I'm smart enough to offer an alternative -- and that's the danger of criticizing from the peanut gallery. But surely there's now a better way.
Whatever insulating material is used must 1) provide adequate heat-proofing or deflection; 2) be damage-resistant; 3) be lightweight; and 4) not impair the aerodynamics. Is there no material or layered combination of materials that is inherently heatproof as well as structurally sound?