Comment by jordanb
2 days ago
Shuttle's tiles not being durable as hoped is what killed it's turnaround time.
The problem was never solved and turned what was supposed to be a few days into weeks or months. Every mission the shuttle had to go back into the assembly building and have all tiles inspected and potentially replaced.
Shuttle tiles were also unique per position and starship tiles have a few base forms that are interchangeable
Shuttle tiles were also bonded to the body, which I don't believe is the case with most of the Starship tiles.
I would also believe that a robot could inspect and replace tiles a lot faster than humans.
Total 6 shuttles built over 35 years. SpaceX already crashed 12 over 5 or so years.
Obviously doesn’t guarantee they’ll find solution, but fast iteration will definitely help.