Questions tagged [heat-shield]
Questions about technologies used to protect reentering space craft from the heat of friction from the atmosphere. May also refer to technologies used to block heat from solar radiation while in the vacuum of space.
99 questions
25 votes
1 answer
3k views
Why didn’t the Parker Solar probe use thermoelectric generators (TEG) rather than solar panels?
The Parker Solar probe passed closer to the sun than any other spacecraft: under 10 solar radii. The intense solar radiation (475 times the solar flux at Earth orbit) necessitated retraction of the ...
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0 votes
1 answer
209 views
Can a large extendable heat shield be used for efficient re-entry?
I was wondering why aerospace engineers still have not ideated a way to produce heat shields which are larger in surface area so that a spacecraft during re-entry can aerobrake more efficiently as ...
- 113
9 votes
3 answers
2k views
Can a ship like Starship roll during re-entry?
Theoretically can a ship like Starship rotate on its axis (roll) during reentry to spread the heat on the whole surface instead of just one side with the heat shield? Is it doable? Does it make sense? ...
12 votes
2 answers
4k views
Why do you even need a heatshield - why not just cool the re-entry surfaces from inside?
Is it conceivable to instead of having a heatshield, to just have some sort of material or mechanism on the inside, that can convert the heat into something else? A back of napkin calculation shows ...
- 757
6 votes
0 answers
165 views
Are there clear "application-limits" to inflatable heat shields?
The bump of Why can't you just parachute down from orbit? got me curious about if hypersonic parachutes were even a thing, but before I found out I stumbled back across LOFTID, which apparently had a ...
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1 vote
0 answers
159 views
How many of the heat shield tiles on Atlantis and Endeavour are original?
Original in this context means heat shield tiles that were never replaced. From my answer to Are there any original heat shield tiles on any of the retired space shuttles that flew to space?, 75% of ...
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12 votes
1 answer
1k views
Are there any original heat shield tiles on any of the retired space shuttles that flew to space?
By "original" I mean that they never needed to be replaced during the life of the vehicle. My reasoning is that if NASA had engineered the shuttle optimally, all the tiles would have been ...
- 9,423
2 votes
1 answer
177 views
Uses for the TPS Tiles after shuttle [closed]
After the space shuttle’s retirement, what has the technology seen with the orbiters thermal protection system (TPS Tiles) had a use for post 2011, since to my knowledge no other vehicles are using ...
- 319
7 votes
1 answer
552 views
Why don't rocket engines use heat tiles on the inside?
I asked in chat about rocket engines not melting @ 3300°C despite steel melting at 1400°C. The two excellent answers were: thermal mass was one answer the propellants are often piped through tiny ...
- 851
5 votes
1 answer
323 views
What propellant (coolant) mass is required for an actively cooled heat shield?
Stoke Space are using a regeneratively cooled heat shield to allow their second stage to survive re-entry. The basis of the design flows LH2 through the aeroplug, then using the heat captured to power ...
- 4,348
2 votes
1 answer
2k views
How many heat shield tiles are installed on Starship and what is their total volume roughly?
If paired with tile density information, this total volume information would be useful for estimating how much more mass Starship could lift in a non-reusable configuration. If also paired with heat ...
- 9,423
6 votes
1 answer
2k views
Why are the bottoms of spaceplanes black?
The traditional answer is that it's because black radiates heat better. The problem is that in order to get rid of heat at all, the surface must glow brighter than the surrounding plasma. And that ...
- 3,712
6 votes
4 answers
6k views
Why does the heatshield have to be on the outside?
To what extent has internal insulation been tested to deal with the heat of re-entry? In the case of Starship, is the existing steel strong enough (to be non-ablative!), or would a different type of ...
- 757
2 votes
0 answers
379 views
Why are ceramic tiles used instead of other novel solutions, for non-ablative heatshields?
Are tiles that much more cost effective as a thermal protection system? What other novel methods have been tried? The obvious issues seem to be different thermal properties and rigidity and how to ...
- 757
2 votes
1 answer
213 views
Will there be a flame around the capsule from Stoke Space Technologies during reentery?
Stoke Space Technologies (https://www.stokespace.com/) will send fuel through the heat shield of its capsule to keep it from heating up. They actually mentioned that they are more concerned that the ...
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