You know a whole the size of a quarter can wreck the entire spacecraft and make it effectively throw away? Also, you'd want to use this many times. Making a system robust while not requiring months of refurbishment is really really hard.
replyThe Space Shuttle had that problem because it was aluminum with a much lower melting point. It’s one of the reasons they’re using steel.
replyWe’ve seen much larger holes than that in previous tests. Some of the control fins burned completely through.
For some of the tests, they removed a few tiles before launch, presumably to test that. Starship did fine.
replycoming back in one piece, and being good enough to use for 5 more missions are two very different things. For example, all existing reentry vehicles come back "fine" but they need to be completely remade to go up again.
replyWeren't the tiles one of the worst obstacles to quick turnaround times for the shuttle? It was something like 18 months before one could be launched again, and that's if they were in a hurry.
replySpaceX has been specifically engineering both the tiles themselves (e.g. manufacturing) and the way that are used on the ship to be much more rapidly repairable than the Shuttle.
replyBy the end they could turn a shuttle around in ten weeks.
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