Posted on 08/30/2014 6:12:18 AM PDT by BenLurkin
The cone-shaped back shell actually has a rather familiar look since its comprised of 970 black thermal protection tiles the same tiles which protected the belly of the space shuttles during three decades and 135 missions of returning from space.
However, Orions back shell tiles will experience temperatures far in excess of those from the shuttle era. Whereas the space shuttles traveled at 17,000 miles per hour, Orion will hit the Earths atmosphere at some 20,000 miles per hour on this first flight test.
The faster a spacecraft travels through Earths atmosphere, the more heat it generates. So even though the hottest the space shuttle tiles got was about 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit, the Orion back shell could get up to 3,150 degrees, despite being in a cooler area of the vehicle.
Engineers have also rigged Orion to conduct a special in flight test to see just how vulnerable the vehicle is to the onslaught of micrometeoroid orbital debris.
Even tiny particles can cause immense and potentially fatal damage at high speed by punching a hole through the back shell tiles and possibly exposing the spacecrafts structure to temperatures high than normal.
Below the tiles, the vehicles structure doesnt often get hotter than about 300 degrees Fahrenheit, but if debris breeched the tile, the heat surrounding the vehicle during reentry could creep into the hole it created, possibly damaging the vehicle, says NASA.
... Now its time for a real world test.
Therefore engineers have purposely drilled a pair of skinny 1 inch wide holes into two 1.47 inches thick tiles to mimic damage from a micrometeoroid hit. The holes are 1.4 inches and 1 inch deep and are located on the opposite side of the back shell from Orions windows and reaction control system jets, according to NASA.
(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...
“Therefore engineers have purposely drilled a pair of skinny 1 inch wide holes into two 1.47 inches thick tiles to mimic damage from a micrometeoroid hit. The holes are 1.4 inches and 1 inch deep and are located on the opposite side of the back shell from Orions windows and reaction control system jets, according to NASA.”
In other words, the vehicle is primed to fail on its first test, giving reason to cancel the entire program as a failure and waste of money which money could be better used for muslim outreach, or pushing man-made climate change.
Orion will hit the Earths atmosphere at some 20,000 miles per hour
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