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Old 17th Mar 2009, 23:06
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Cyclone733
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
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I'd imagine that during reentry most of the shuttle's structure is protected from large thermal expansion. The difference between Concorde and the shuttle is that the shuttle is largely clad in thermal materials eg the heat shield and thermal blankets.

Google throws this up:

SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITER SYSTEMS

Far too close to my nightmares from University for me to read in any depth, but try searching for 'thermal expansion' to see the structures in place to protect the shuttle's structure from thermal expansion/reentry heat and the sudden temperature changes from the cold of space to the heat of reentry

(Before anyone picks me up on it, I'm aware there are a few other subtle differences between the shuttle and Concorde)
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