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“Our test facilities can’t reach the combination of heat flux, pressure, shear stresses, etc., that an actual reentering spacecraft does. We’re always having to wait for the flight test to get the final certification that our system is good to go.”—Jeremy VanderKam, deputy manager for Orion’s heat shield, speaking in 2022 On Wednesday, NASA will attempt to send four astronauts around the moon on a mission called Artemis II. This will be second flight of NASA’s SLS rocket, and the first time the 20-year-old Orion capsule flies with people on board. The trouble is that the heat shield on Orion...

IN A NUTSHELL 🚀 Chinese scientists have developed a groundbreaking carbide ceramic that withstands temperatures up to 6,512 degrees Fahrenheit. 🔥 The new material significantly outperforms existing options, breaking through traditional thermal limits in aerospace and energy sectors. 🌟 This innovation holds immense potential for hypersonic flight, enabling faster and more efficient aircraft travel. ⚡ Beyond aerospace, the material’s resilience could revolutionize the energy industry, enhancing efficiency and safety in high-temperature environments. ============================================================================= In an impressive stride forward, Chinese scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking innovation in the field of material science: a carbide ceramic that can endure temperatures as high...

In an article(opens in new tab) published on Monday (May 23), the website Space Explored alleged that Endeavour experienced an issue during its mission that could have had disastrous consequences during last month's homecoming...citing unnamed sources at NASA and SpaceX, claims that hypergolic propellant — fuels paired to instantly combust on contact — leaked into Endeavour's heat shield during the mission. (Dragon's Draco thrusters use hypergolic propellants.) NASA...has issued a statement refuting the heat shield claims... Steve Stich, manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program, took some time to comment on the Crew-5 heat shield swap. Stich elaborated on the testing...

Stanford researchers have shown that a few layers of atomically thin materials, stacked like sheets of paper atop hot spots, can provide the same insulation as a sheet of glass 100 times thicker. In the near term, thinner heat shields will enable engineers to make electronic devices even more compact than those we have today... The heat we feel from smartphones or laptops is actually an inaudible form of high-frequency sound. If that seems crazy, consider the underlying physics. Electricity flows through wires as a stream of electrons. As these electrons move, they collide with the atoms of the materials...

This: The space shuttle Discovery, now in orbit, shook loose some chunks of insulation from its fuel tank as it took off from Cape Canaveral on July 26. This debris, the consistency of pumice stone, caused scrapes to the fragile tiles that protect the shuttle vehicle from catastrophic heating as it re-enters the earth’s atmosphere. Ominously, this is the type of damage that doomed the shuttle Columbia. NASA spokesmen say Discovery’s damage is less severe. They haven’t said explicitly what everyone is thinking: that it would be very nice if Discovery didn’t catch fire and explode on its return, as...

Swiss technicians are to use a special insulating foam to wrap up a glacier that has been shrinking under the summer sun. Carlo Danioth, in charge of the slopes at the Andermatt resort in central Switzerland, says the Gurschen glacier is to be partially covered with 3,000 square metres of PVC foam from the beginning of May. Mr Danioth says the aim is to halt the melting of the glacier, a phenomenon that has been attributed to global warming. "If the trial is a success, we'll wrap the other part of the glacier too," he said. He added that the...