4 ms·

How did Orion withstand temperatures twice the melting point of steel?

24 points by gordon_freeman 12y ago

fallingmeat 12y ago
The part about knowledge like heat shield technology, rotting away, is kind of disappointing. It seems that's at least one area that would be under continuous development and the art would only be improving, not retreating.
- Fuzzwah 12y ago
  My favorite story about forgotten and refound knowledge is regarding scurvy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy
- TallGuyShort 12y ago
  There was a similar article some time back about attempts to retrieve and study Rocketdyne F-1 engines from the first-stage of the Saturn V rockets from the Apollo missions because understanding of their design was lost. I can't find the article, but someone did point out that in many ways the Space Shuttle's liquid-fueled engines were superior, albeit less powerful. It's just a fact that we haven't done anything quite like a manned moon mission in decades and a lot of that experience is unique, and is now "retired". I agree it's sad to see. I've been reading a few books on the computer systems from the program and it's fascinating - I recommend Digital Apollo if you're interested in what we still know about that aspect.
  - avmich 12y ago
    May be this one - http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-monstrous-f-1-moon-rocket-back-to-life/ http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-... ?
Mithaldu 12y ago
For those who are curious about the answers, but don't care about the 90% filler that this article is made of: - they had documentation on the apollo shields, but few people who'd actually worked on it - NASA redeveloped Avcoat, a combination of fiberglass and high-tech plastics, that was used, in an earlier form, for Apollo’s heat shield - if it worked as intended, about 20 percent of the shield burned up on the way down In addition to being almost entirely filler and answering the titular question for no good reason whatsoever only in the last 25% of the article; none of the numbers are in SI. I really hate modern journalism.
- vibrolax 12y ago
  In the following film, you can watch them make and test the Apollo ablative heat shields and capsule blankets. Apollo Spacecraft Status Report #2 - 1966 NASA Educational Documentary - WDTVLIVE42 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk5QI0-k6nc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk5QI0-k6nc > I really hate modern journalism. In my opinion, the journalism of the 60's wasn't any better. Technical matters have always been simplified to a degree that scientifically educated people find distressing. At least today, the internet gives the interested person access to source documents nearly as easily as depicted in "Star Trek".
- ajuc 12y ago
  Thank you.
njharman 12y ago
Um wild guess here, but. By using something that isn't steel? Also intelligence insulting fluff articles have no place on HN.
mikeyouse 12y ago
A much more substantive article: http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/11/05/engineers-recommend-changes-to-orion-heat-shield/ http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/11/05/engineers-recommend-cha... The Orion heat shield’s titanium skeleton and carbon fiber skin was fabricated by Lockheed Martin — the craft’s prime contractor — in Colorado. The skeleton was shipped to Textron Defense Systems in Massachusetts for installation of a fiberglass-phenolic honeycomb structure. More than 330,000 individual cells make up the honeycomb, and Textron technicians — using a special dispensing gun — filled the cells by hand with a material called Avcoat. The Avcoat insulation is supposed to ablate away during the Orion spacecraft’s re-entry, protecting the underlying structure from searing temperatures. The Apollo moon capsule used the same type of manually-applied material for its heat shield, and it worked so well Lockheed Martin and NASA decided to dust off the design. But a review of the heat shield on the Orion spacecraft set for launch Dec. 4 revealed the Avcoat was slightly more uneven than expected, according to Jim Bray, crew module director at Lockheed Martin, Orion’s prime contractor.

The part about knowledge like heat shield technology, rotting away, is kind of disappointing. It seems that's at least one area that would be under continuous development and the art would only be improving, not retreating.

Fuzzwah 12y ago
My favorite story about forgotten and refound knowledge is regarding scurvy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy
TallGuyShort 12y ago
There was a similar article some time back about attempts to retrieve and study Rocketdyne F-1 engines from the first-stage of the Saturn V rockets from the Apollo missions because understanding of their design was lost. I can't find the article, but someone did point out that in many ways the Space Shuttle's liquid-fueled engines were superior, albeit less powerful. It's just a fact that we haven't done anything quite like a manned moon mission in decades and a lot of that experience is unique, and is now "retired". I agree it's sad to see. I've been reading a few books on the computer systems from the program and it's fascinating - I recommend Digital Apollo if you're interested in what we still know about that aspect.
- avmich 12y ago
  May be this one - http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-monstrous-f-1-moon-rocket-back-to-life/ http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/04/how-nasa-brought-the-... ?

Mithaldu 12y ago

For those who are curious about the answers, but don't care about the 90% filler that this article is made of: - they had documentation on the apollo shields, but few people who'd actually worked on it - NASA redeveloped Avcoat, a combination of fiberglass and high-tech plastics, that was used, in an earlier form, for Apollo’s heat shield - if it worked as intended, about 20 percent of the shield burned up on the way down In addition to being almost entirely filler and answering the titular question for no good reason whatsoever only in the last 25% of the article; none of the numbers are in SI. I really hate modern journalism.

vibrolax 12y ago
In the following film, you can watch them make and test the Apollo ablative heat shields and capsule blankets. Apollo Spacecraft Status Report #2 - 1966 NASA Educational Documentary - WDTVLIVE42 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk5QI0-k6nc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk5QI0-k6nc > I really hate modern journalism. In my opinion, the journalism of the 60's wasn't any better. Technical matters have always been simplified to a degree that scientifically educated people find distressing. At least today, the internet gives the interested person access to source documents nearly as easily as depicted in "Star Trek".
ajuc 12y ago
Thank you.

njharman 12y ago

Um wild guess here, but. By using something that isn't steel? Also intelligence insulting fluff articles have no place on HN.

mikeyouse 12y ago

A much more substantive article: http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/11/05/engineers-recommend-changes-to-orion-heat-shield/ http://spaceflightnow.com/2014/11/05/engineers-recommend-cha... The Orion heat shield’s titanium skeleton and carbon fiber skin was fabricated by Lockheed Martin — the craft’s prime contractor — in Colorado. The skeleton was shipped to Textron Defense Systems in Massachusetts for installation of a fiberglass-phenolic honeycomb structure. More than 330,000 individual cells make up the honeycomb, and Textron technicians — using a special dispensing gun — filled the cells by hand with a material called Avcoat. The Avcoat insulation is supposed to ablate away during the Orion spacecraft’s re-entry, protecting the underlying structure from searing temperatures. The Apollo moon capsule used the same type of manually-applied material for its heat shield, and it worked so well Lockheed Martin and NASA decided to dust off the design. But a review of the heat shield on the Orion spacecraft set for launch Dec. 4 revealed the Avcoat was slightly more uneven than expected, according to Jim Bray, crew module director at Lockheed Martin, Orion’s prime contractor.