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A thermal protection system, or TPS, is the barrier that protects a spacecraft during the searing heat of atmospheric reentry. Multiple approaches for the thermal protection of spacecraft are in use, among them ablative heat shields, passive cooling, and active cooling of spacecraft surfaces.
AVCOAT was used for the heat shield on NASA's Apollo command module. [4] In its final Apollo form, this material was called AVCOAT 5026–39. Although AVCOAT was not used for the Space Shuttle orbiters, NASA again used the material for its Orion spacecraft [5] first for the initial Orion test and then for a different type of heat shield for the later Orions.
By contrast, the reusable shuttle required a reusable thermal protection system. Lightweight Previous ablative heat shields were very heavy. For example, the ablative heat shield on the Apollo Command Module comprised about 15% of the vehicle weight. The winged shuttle had much more surface area than previous spacecraft, so a lightweight TPS ...
The European Commission funded a research project, C 3 HARME, under the NMP-19-2015 call of Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development in 2016-2020 for the design, manufacturing and testing of a new class of ultra-refractory ceramic matrix composites reinforced with silicon carbide fibers and Carbon fibers suitable for applications in severe aerospace environments.
Silicone Impregnated Refractory Ceramic Ablator, or SIRCA, is a lightweight ceramic ablative material, often used in thermal protection systems to protect parts of launch vehicles and spacecraft from very high temperature heat sources. [1]
Its diameter was 3100 mm and its height was 2698 mm. [5] The module had an ablative thermal protection. The side panels were covered with Medium Density Ablative (MDA) tiles and the forward heat shield was made of carbon phenolic tiles. [6] [7] It was powered by batteries and was equipped with six liquid-propellant (MMH/MON3) 100 N thrusters. [8]
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The rounded shape (blunt body) of a capsule forms a shock wave that keeps most of the heat away from the heat shield, but a thermal protection system is still necessary. The space capsule must be strong enough to withstand reentry forces such as drag , and must reenter at a precise angle of attack to prevent a skip off the surface of the ...