>>14404004I think what they might be concerned about is the heat, humidity, and the wind, causing problems with the foam that's sprayed onto the main tank which keeps the hydrogen cool. Constant stresses of this material will lead to expiration and then cause hot patches to arise in the hydrogen tank, which will lead to one of two things:
1. Increased boil off of hydrogen fuel (major problem, but not mission failure level)
2. Expired foam material may cause condensation during boil off to create a temperature differential and lead to foam separation from the tank. Considering that Columbia's failure was due to foam material separating from the tank and striking the heat shield on the Orbiter and damaging it severely; maybe the concern here is a similar event happening and striking the booster(s), leading to a destabilization event and causing a catastrophic failure mid flight.
EITHER WAY, ITS FUCKING BAD in the dumbest possible way to not design the rocket around these concerns. Especially when its using inherited architecture, has been in design for 3 decades, is nearly a decade late, and billions over budget.
