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Why don't the tires on a shuttle explode in space?

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Standard atmospheric pressure at sea-level Earth is just 14.696 psi. Compare that to 340 or 300 psi (23.14 and 20.42 amt, respectively). The difference in internal tire pressure in Earth's atmosphere and absence of atmospheric pressure in vacuum of space is only 4.3 - 4.9%. read more

According to the NASA specifications on the space shuttle tire: It is designed to withstand impact landing of 263 mph of a vehicle weighing 142,000 pounds. It is a 34 Ply tire, nominally inflated to 340 PSI. read more

The difference in internal tire pressure in Earth's atmosphere and absence of atmospheric pressure in vacuum of space is only 4.3 - 4.9%. Tires would experience far more dynamic pressure environment due to friction heating and pressure of weight of the orbiter during landing (240,000 lbs / 109,000 kg) at contact speeds up to 260 mph (418 km/h) than those ~ 5%. read more

Presently, space shuttles don’t create sonic booms because they are at rest, on display, in museums. They would have to move a bit faster to make any booms. That pedantry aside, yes, space shuttles went boom. read more

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