Space Shuttle Heat Shield Solution

[thecollage]

Why not make the heath shield out of Aerogel. The properties indicate it holds up to 2192 Degrees F. It weighs considerably less and may even be more likely to trap foam falling from the boosters as opposed to causing a gouge.

I know it will be costly. But what is a few Billion to NASA.

[cosmictraveler]

Because there's no way to attach it, no glue has been made as yet.

[Captain Kremmen]

They'll be working on it.
That stuff is wonderful.
If they can find a cheap way to make it
the spin offs will be bigger than any they have ever had.

[cosmictraveler]

The tiles they have now are even better because they can be glued on. It isn't going to be long before the space shuttle is no longer be our primary flight vehicle and the new rocket carrying vehicle will be in operation in 2010.

[oreodont]

true:

Except 'is scheduled to be in operation'

[Klippymitch]

They could put an retractable outwards cone on the space shuttle like this:

Normal mode

[shuttle]>

Reentry mode

[shuttle]<

The Cone collects the air in front of the shuttle and pushes it through it's center hole into a distributor. The air is then distributed back outside to cool the cone.

[cosmictraveler]

true:

Except 'is scheduled to be in operation'

Only for 2 more years then off to the twilight zone with it.

[Nasor]

Why not make the heath shield out of Aerogel. The properties indicate it holds up to 2192 Degrees F.

The shuttle's outer surface reaches over 3000 F.

[Captain Kremmen]

The shuttle's outer surface reaches over 3000 F.

Point accepted.
It doesn't have a simple solution .See:
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/...f/sts_sys.html

[Nasor]

Also, an important point that people should remember here is that it's not enough to have a material with a really high melting point - you also need the material to be a fantastic insulator, so that even though the material on the outer surface of the shuttle is thousands of degrees, the heat doesn't penetrate inside the shuttle to melt everything. The aluminum that the shuttle’s frame is made of will begin to soften at just 175 C. So you need a material that can be 3000 C on one side, but only sub-175 on the other.

[cat2only]

How about shooting another one up to them?

[cosmictraveler]

How about shooting another one up to them?

Because there's a special way for the tiles to be glued on. It requires that they be in a room temperature to get dry and adhere properly. They can't replace them up there. They can only repair the hole but as yet no way has been found to do so in space.

[weed_eater_guy]

How about a giant, steerable upper-atmosphere parachute, the shuttle would slow down in the upper atmosphere and manipulate the chute lines to keep it aloft in thin air for as long as possible before the eventual decent. If this is done in the right region of the atmosphere, aerodynamic heating could be drastically minimized, eliminating the need for heat shielding! At least this is my theory, someone please shoot it down because there must be some reason why it hasn't been done yet .

[draqon]

How about a giant, steerable upper-atmosphere parachute, the shuttle would slow down in the upper atmosphere and manipulate the chute lines to keep it aloft in thin air for as long as possible before the eventual decent. If this is done in the right region of the atmosphere, aerodynamic heating could be drastically minimized, eliminating the need for heat shielding! At least this is my theory, someone please shoot it down because there must be some reason why it hasn't been done yet .

air density is way too low

[Oli]

Easy - up high the atmosphere is too thin to make a chute work and deploying it in a thin atmosphere would let the shroud lines tangle before it got "inflated" enough to straighten them out - and by the time you're in sufficient density for the chute to be viable you're going too fast to deploy it.

[weed_eater_guy]

oh yeah the thing needs to open up..., what if it were rimmed with an inflatable ring hooked up to some CO2 canisters or something, like a life-raft? that would open it up all the way for use in the thin air, maybe?

[draqon]

oh yeah the thing needs to open up..., what if it were rimmed with an inflatable ring hooked up to some CO2 canisters or something, like a life-raft? that would open it up all the way for use in the thin air, maybe?

the parachutes just don't work at such altitude...extreme pressured balloons do however.

[Oli]

oh yeah the thing needs to open up..., what if it were rimmed with an inflatable ring hooked up to some CO2 canisters or something, like a life-raft? that would open it up all the way for use in the thin air, maybe?

But balloons work on the displacement principle - you've got to have a gas (and material) light enough to displace enough very thin air to make them worthwhile.

[USS Exeter]

Helium balloons work at heights of up to 150,000 ft efficiently but I highly doubt their use in spacecraft. inflatables are simply impractical for that kind of use.