United States. NASA engineers developed a thermal protection system for the Orion spacecraft that they have been improving in the design and manufacturing process of the spacecraft's heat shield since the vehicle successfully traveled into space last year.
Researchers are now improving the overall system ahead of the spacecraft's next mission — a flight that will put Orion in even more extreme conditions.
Orion's thermal protection system is one of the most critical parts of the spacecraft and is responsible for protecting it, and future astronauts who will arrive from deep space. The technology protects the spacecraft when facing the atmosphere on re-entry to slow it down. During Orion's next mission the spacecraft will be in space for more than three weeks and will return to Earth in even faster and hotter conditions than during its last flight.
For these future missions, a silver coating for metal-based thermal control also binds to the thermal protection system of the crew module system and shingles. The coating, similar to what is used in the main heat shield, will reduce heat loss during phases when Orion is aimed at space and experiences cold temperatures, as well as limit high temperatures, so the crew module will be firm when the ship faces the sun.
The coating will help Orion's modules maintain a temperature range of about -150 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit before entry and will also protect against electrical surface charges in space and during re-entry.
Instead of a monolithic outer layer, the heat shield will be made of approximately 180 blocks that can be made simultaneously with other heat shield components to simplify working time in the manufacturing process.
