Thermal protection system especially for space vehicles

US6497390B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• ASTRIUM GMBH · DE

Inventors

• Wolfgang Fischer · Eppelheim, DE
• Walter Vogel · Niederwerrn, DE
• Joerg Bolz · Bremen, DE
• Wolff-Dieter Ebeling · Hildesheim, DE
• Ulrich Rieck · Elmshorn, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 25, 2000
• Grant date: Dec 24, 2002
• Expiry date: Mar 20, 2021

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T428/24132
• WIPO field: Surface technology, coating
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A thermal protection system suitable as a heat shield for a space vehicle includes a flexible insulation mat that is adhesively bonded onto the outer skin of the space vehicle, a cover layer made of at least one ply of a ceramic fiber composite material secured onto the insulation mat, and a coating of an inorganic material applied onto an outer surface of the ceramic cover layer. The cover layer is secured to the insulation mat by adhesive bonding, stitching with ceramic threads or the like, or by a snap fastener button connection. The ceramic fiber composite materials of the cover layer include inorganic fibers which are preferably oxides, carbides or mixtures thereof embedded in a matrix of the same compositional components, whereby the components can be selected appropriately depending on the requirements of the particular application. The overall thermal protection system remains flexible, lightweight, and highly effective for thermal shielding, so that it may be used not only on the relatively cooler portions of the space vehicle, but also on the most highly thermally loaded areas such as the nose and the leading edges of wings and the like.