User:Mkf093/Heat shield

Spacecraft[edit]
Main articles: Atmospheric entry § Thermal protection systems, and Aeroshell

See also: Atmospheric entry and Reusable launch system Spacecraft that land on a planet with an atmosphere, such as Earth, Mars, and Venus, currently do so by entering the atmosphere at high speeds, depending on air resistance rather than rocket power to slow them down. A side effect of this method of atmospheric re-entry is aerodynamic heating, which can be highly destructive to the structure of an unprotected or faulty spacecraft. An aerodynamic heat shield consists of a protective layer of special materials to dissipate the heat. Two basic types of aerodynamic heat shield have been used:

With possible inflatable heat shields, as developed by the US (Low Earth Orbit Flight Test Inflatable Decelerator - LOFTID) and China, single-use rockets like the Space Launch System are considered to be retrofitted with such heat shields to salvage the expensive engines, possibly reducing the costs of launches significantly.
 * An ablative heat shield consists of a layer of plastic resin, the outer surface of which is heated to a gas, which then carries the heat away by convection. Such shields were used on the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo spacecraft, and are currently used by the SpaceX Dragon 2 spacecraft and the Orion spacecraft. Ablative shielding was also used for the external tanks of the Space Shuttle.
 * A thermal soak heat shield uses an insulating material to absorb and radiate the heat away from the spacecraft structure. This type was used on the Space Shuttle, consisting of ceramic or composite tiles over most of the vehicle surface, with reinforced carbon-carbon material on the highest heat load points (the nose and wing leading edges). Damage to this material on the left wing caused the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Notes About Space Shuttle Heat shield / Article additions

Unlike previous manned spacecrafts, the Space Shuttle was designed to be reused with minimal refurbishment in between launches. This was somewhat achieved with the use of TPS tiles (among other things which I will add in later) which protected the orbiter from the heat of atmospheric reentry. However over the course of the shuttle program, many difficulties and challenges arose with the use of this system, with minor damage to the heat shield being somewhat commonplace. With damage to the heat shield almost causing the destruction of Space shuttle Atlantis in 1988 and Causing the loss of Columbia in 2003. The Soviet Space Shuttle, known as the Buran, also used TPS tiles that are similar to the American Shuttles. With the Buran also using a ceramic tiles on the bottom of the orbiter, and carbon-carbon on the nose cone.


 * Talks about the where the damage was on Space Shuttle Columbia


 * Talks about the Temperature the shuttle tiles could withstand.


 * The Orbiter reached a Temperature of 1,648 degrees Celsius
 * Previous U.S. spacecrafts used a single-use heat shield
 * Possible addition of tile loss on STS - 27
 * Loss of TPS tile when transporting Columbia from California to Florida in 1979

Response to peer review


 * Add some history on the Mercury and Gemini.
 * Add some history about the design of heat shields.
 * Add some more sources to places in the article that might need some.
 * Add some history on the design of the Shuttle tiles? (other testing of the tiles after Columbia could be added).
 * Could add more about the ablative heat shield used on Apollo, Gemini, SLS, etc.
 * Could add history about the different types of tests when developing the shields.
 * Look and find the different type of tiles used on the Shuttle, like the Reinforced carbon carbon.