posted on May, 20 2009 @ 01:15 PM
It would depend upon the philosophy of whomever was in charge of the project, and what technologies were available at the time.
In recent times, the need for better aircraft maintenance has lead to a number of technologies that allow us to analyze the composite structures of an
air frame to determine whether or not they require replacement - and do not require any destruction of the air frame to do the analysis (essentially,
a "scanner").
In modern times, we'd use many nondestructive technologies to cause as little disruption to the structure and technology onboard.
Though for some things, like materials (hull structure), some of them would have to be sacrificed (a few miligrams - not much) for spectral
analysis.
In essence - it would be little different than if you were an amateur electronics person taking apart a high-dollar radio to see how it works. You
would start out touching as little as possible, making sure not to do any damage - and then you would start probing around with meters, and you may
eventually get around to popping open a 'chip' to see what is inside.