?
NASA is getting ready to launch the Parker Solar Probe sometime in July or August of this year. The mission of the probe is to explore the Sun?s corona while discovering more about solar wind and how conditions in corona affect space weather. {{more: continue …}}?
The success of this project depends on the protection provided by the heat shield for the probe which must withstand temperatures of 2,500 Fahrenheit.
?
The main heat shield body was built at Carbon-Carbon Advanced Technologies in Kennedale, Texas. The white coating on the front of the heat shield, the part that will face the Sun, was sprayed on by Plasma Processes, Inc. in Huntsville, Alabama. The heat shield has brittle properties and so was tested at Goddard in its own thermal vacuum chamber, separate from the rest of the spacecraft, to avoid unnecessary damage to the shield.
?
?The heat shield is various forms of carbon,? Lead Thermal Protection System Engineer Betsy Congdon told Spaceflight Insider. ?It?s a lot like a honeycomb panel you might find in an airplane, or on some of the panels of our spacecraft. There are two face sheets that are carbon-carbon, which is basically a superheated version of graphite epoxy that you might find in your golf clubs or your tennis rackets. And then in between there is a carbon foam. And it?s all bonded together using basically a carbon slurry.?
?
seven year mission …?
?
During its seven-year mission, when its elliptical orbit takes it nearest the Sun, the spacecraft must be carefully oriented so that the shield is always keeping the instruments shaded from the direct heat of the Sun. Even the spacecraft?s solar panels are designed to fold downward like flaps so that only the tips of the panels are outside the shade of the shield during these close passes. During its closest approaches, PSP will be travelling some 450,000 miles (724,000 km) per hour. Despite these incredible speeds and the intense heat of the Sun, the shielded instruments should experience temperatures of no greater than 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius).
?
The space craft is designed to make up to 24 orbits around the sun and will take the probe 8 times closer to the sun than any other space craft.?
About Carbon-Carbon Advanced Technologies (C-Cat):
?
Located on Eden Road in Kennedale, C-CAT was founded in 1988 by Francis Schwind. Mr. Schwind was the manufacturing engineer for the Carbon-Carbon Wing Leading Edge and Nose Cap for the Space Shuttle Orbiter. As the Space Shuttle program began to wind down, Mr. Schwind sought the opportunity to take his knowledge of the Carbon-Carbon manufacturing process to industry. Over the past several years, C-CAT has significantly advanced the state of the art for the manufacture of Carbon-Carbon. Carbon-Carbon is a composite material comprised of carbon fiber reinforcement in a matrix of carbon. Carbon Carbon has gained a space-worthy reputation due to its high temperature resistance. It can withstand temperatures from 3,200 to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1760 ? 2204?C). The material becomes stronger as it gets hotter.??
Comments are closed.