Along about a long time ago, I was in a position to obtain a 1 ft square section of shuttle tile – the original recipe, not the later version. This ⅜” thick section looked like a section of acoustic ceiling tile – weighed a bit less though.
You could hold a ⅜” thick section in your hand and put an acetylene torch to the other side … and not feel the heat through the tile.
Once upon a time, this impressed people and over time, I gave pieces away. What I have now is a few larger sections of what once was a single section of tile.
My house is being repaired from a flood last summer. One of the workers – an apprentice – discovered some of my old CDs when they were moving stuff. This kid – he might be 18 – was very interested in my old Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd music. That period of time is old history to him.
Thinking of it, the 70s to him is what the (19)20s were to me. Time of legend and mystery yet some living remnants still exist.
So he was admiring some of my “my shit is stuff” stuff so I showed him the pieces of tile (looking like busted styrofoam).
“Here’s a piece of space shuttle tile.“
“Shuttle? What’s that?“
Automobiles were still a novelty in the 1920s but not the 1970s. Space was still a novelty in the 1970s but not the 2020s.
Time flew by – so make me feel obsolete …
