Shuttle Launch Pad Damaged During Discovery's Launch

pumpkinpuss writes "Launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center suffered unusual damage during the shuttle Discovery's blastoff Saturday. Pictures from a NASA source show buckled concrete and numerous concrete blocks or bricks, presumably from the flame trench, littering a road behind the pad."

Comments

Re:Thermal Cycling

[rahvin112]

it is concrete - but it isn't your everyday concrete - every brick/slab is made with diffrent mixtures - jsut becauseitis concrete doesn't mean it even remotely resemples what they make bridges out of.

Newsflash: Every mixed batch of concrete is different than the last. Just like a snowflake and humans, every single one might be composed of the same ingredients but will be completely unique. The same applies to concrete. A little more cement powder by weight, aggregate/sand that's a little different, a half a cup more water, and even the cure temperatures or other environmental effects. Regardless of the method of control, every batch is different and unique in composition.