With the brains available and the technology today, why does material still bust off of the space shuttle?

Question

every single take off?

I don't see why NASA could not sheath the whole underbgelly of the craft with a carbon fiber kevlar that would protect it from shrapnel at takeoff and then it would either burn off or not hinder the heat tiles for re- entry.
I think that is simple and would function with no chance of failure.

Answer 1

The real question is how long it's been happening. Notice, this has happened every launch since the Columbia tragedy brought the problem to light. This might not have been something they knew about, or they successfully kept it out of the press.

Answer 2

Because the design has a fundamental flaw, which was pointed out and considered at the start of the project. Insulation and ice fall off of every liquid fueled rocket, but if the payload is on top, then no significant damage is done. Putting the payload (the orbiter) alongside the rocket and fuel tank creates the dangerous situation. It was a calculated risk and would not have been a problem had the shuttle not exceeded it's design lifetime. The shuttle was designed to have a catastrophic failure no more than once in 100 launches, which is about what the experience has shown it to be. It is way overdue for a replacement. If the replacement system had been designed and built on time, we would probably not have lost any shuttles. It's the politicians fault for trying to make the numbers come out the way they wanted them, instead of listening to the engineers.

The other factor is that the technology has not, and probably will not ever in our lifetimes, make spaceflight a riskless proposition. Politics required that NASA advertise spaceflight as routine. Anyone involved with the program knew (and still knows), that it is a risky, dangerous proposition and that vehicles will blow up and fall out of the sky. That just goes with the territory.

Answer 3

Because NASA did not use all the available technology to prevent this...

Answer 4

beieve it or not they are designed to break apart like that -- i don't quite get the logic but its doing whats its supposed to do when chunks break off.