Nov 13 2007
From The Space Library
Boeing completed a developmental heat shield for NASA’s Orion CEV. In 2006 NASA’s ARC had awarded Boeing Advanced Systems a contract to develop a demonstration Thermal Protection System (TPS) Manufacturing Demonstration Unit (MDU) for the Orion capsule. Thomas Andrews, Boeing TPS Program Manager, stated that the TPS MDU had met NASA’s risk-reduction objectives “to move the Orion heat shield program toward full-scale development in preparation for CEV missions.” Boeing had fabricated the TPS MDU from Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) material. With PICA’s proven performance on NASA’s Stardust spacecraft heat shield, NASA was considering the material for Orion’s heat shield. Boeing’s integrated concept for the TPS MDU used multiple PICA components, with each piece sized significantly larger than the typical Space Shuttle tiles, greatly reducing the number of the shield’s parts, as well as its complexity.
Boeing Company, “Boeing Completes Prototype Heat Shield for NASA Orion Spacecraft,” news release, 13 November 2007, http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2007/q4/071113a_nr.html (accessed 12 November 2010).
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