From: snidely.too@gmail.com   
      
   Trolidan7 blurted out:   
   > On 11/20/22 5:38 AM, Alain Fournier wrote:   
   >> On Nov/20/2022 at 02:50, Snidely wrote :   
   >>> Trolidan7 submitted this gripping article, maybe on Saturday:   
   >>>> On 11/16/22 3:04 AM, Alain Fournier wrote:   
   >>>>> SLS launched this morning. It was spectacular. NASA showed us again that   
   >>>>> they really know how to run a boondoggle.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Alain Fournier   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Are those center tanks painted red, or do they rust quickly?   
   >>>   
   >>> The foam insulation on the core stage gets a suntan, just like the   
   >>> Shuttle's external tanks did.   
   >>   
   >> To be more precise. The natural colour of the insulation foam is light   
   >> orange. After exposition to sunlight, it becomes a darker rusty colour   
   >> (what Snidely called a suntan).   
   >>   
   >>   
   >> Alain Fournier   
   >   
   > Am I mistaken or did they used to be lighter in   
   > color?   
      
   All depends on how long a tank has been in the sun.  Some had short   
   exposure, some had long (and multiple trips on the causeway).   
      
   > Was the composition of the insulation foam changed   
   > at some point in time?   
      
   I believe the answer is "yes", but it is in the same family of   
   plastics. The UV behavor is very similar.  I'm not going to go back   
   through the NasaSpaceFlight.com [NSF] streams of rollouts to track down   
   the quote, and you may be better off looking at the media packets NASA   
   has prepared.   
      
   > Are the tanks stored longer now than earlier before   
   > they are used?   
      
   Being stored indoors would not result in much discoloration.   
      
   This tank has spent a lot of time on stands and pads.  Remember that it   
   dd 2 attempts at the full-duration static fire, and has rolled out on   
   the mobile launch pad 3 or 4 times and was out at 39B long enough to   
   hook up connections, do inspections, run the tests (full wet dress is a   
   4 day event, AIUI), and then for each roll back there's undoing all the   
   connections.   
      
   Consider also that Shuttles were often on the pad for months during   
   their flight preparations, and the tank color would change during that   
   time.  There's a ewetoob vid of the rollout for STS-133, on Sep 23,   
   2010, according to the tag. Launch was February 24, 2011.   
      
      
   /dps   
      
   --   
   Who, me?  And what lacuna?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)