From: henry@spsystems.net   
      
   In article ,   
   Keith F. Lynch  wrote:   
   >> ...focused on the tiles, not the RCC leading edge, and no   
   >> plausible imaging -- from the ground or from elsewhere in space --   
   >> would have been at all likely to notice a small dark hole in a black   
   >> surface.)   
   >   
   >How difficult would it be to mount lots of lights inside the wings,   
   >and paint the inside white, so that any hole in the wing can easily   
   >be detected from a great distance?   
      
   A lot of work if you want to get them into every nook and cranny, plus the   
   question of whether structural damage might also happen to cut the wiring.   
   And detection from a great distance requires a lot of light...   
      
   Much better, on the whole, to improve close-up inspection technology by   
   using things like lidar imaging.   
   --   
   "Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend."    |   Henry Spencer   
                                   -- George Herbert       | henry@spsystems.net   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)