Quote:
Originally Posted by Schroeder
Wouldn't those be scorched at best and completely disintegrated at worst after re-entry? They aren't made for that after all.
What about a test ICBM launch from some submarine? Couldn't those lose a cowl? Would make more sense to me with no space port in the area and there are lots of exercises going on now in Nato and Russia.
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The diameter looks a bit big for an SLBM. Trident II first stage diameter is about 2.11m, and the Russian SLBMs are about the same. By the picture I'd wager that this is wider than that, more akin to the nearly 3m of the R7 fairing.
In regards to burning up, it varies sometimes and if you look at the fairing in the painting I posted above, you'll see that there's bits of it beyond what they've found, so it could be that part of it did burn up and what they've found is what survived re-entry. I mean, look at when Colombia burnt up, some obscure things survived re-entry, including bits of astronaut.
