Hacker News

Favorites Setup
Comment by burnerRhodov3 | original | SpaceX catches the Starship to end Flight 15
[−]burnerRhodov3 · 2026-11-15 Sun 17:47 UTC · link
They used ablative materials at multiple spots on the shuttle, mainly in the a elevon gaps and around the nose. They also used carbon on carbon on all the wing edges, which is super expensive, but lasts a long time in theory but you have to scrap the whole section if it cracks.
[−]avmich · 2026-11-15 Sun 18:42 UTC · link
It's not the reason to say Shuttle was expensive because ablative cooling. For that scale ablative cooling was not used.