Picky
Sorry but I was pressed for time (above) and didn’t get to superimpose the suggested heating process upon the timeline. However that has been done now (at
this link) and in doing so, I found that a lot of other times, events and factors fitted neatly in as well. See what you think.
If you have any basic problems with the premise of the flat-plate effect, its generation of super-heated (and initially inward-focused) plasma and how that mechanism worked here in respect of the supply H2O dump nozzle and vacuum vent’s heating, then I’d probably need to start citing aerody references (and explaining it again). Let me know (with any specific exceptions/reqmt for clarification). I’ve cut out the insignificant events from the time-line in order to keep it simple.
The 1353:44 (Debris #1) first report of debris after coast crossing doesn’t mean of course that there wasn’t any prior overwater shedding of debris. The significance of the supply water dump nozzle’s heating (and the timing of it) is a watershed clue to there having quickly been a loss of residual fragments of that launch-shattered RCC section after the Entry Interface. Once that RCC section was substantially gone, apart from the inconel bracket there was just the oblique flat-plate leading-edge left. The fact that it both generated superheated plasma and that that forward-projected plume was focused inwards towards the nose by the (next along) intact RCC section is to me quite logical. However it may not be to others. The existence of the super-heated plasma plume also seems to [possibly] explain the non-nominal comms losses experienced on a number of occasions throughout their re-entry ride.
OVERTALK