Indian Space Plane

[Flooble]

Eric Mc said:

Simple answer, no - although composites come in lots of different versions and their heating properties vary. Their main advantage is lightness. That is why the new Orion space capsule is mainly composite material. However, its sides are protected by ceramic tiles evolved from those used on the Shuttle. Of course, we have moved on a lot in ceramic materials since the mid 1970s when the Shuttle tiles were originally devised so modern tiles will be more efficient and resilient than those initially used on the Shuttle.

Orion's underside heat shield, which has to withstand much higher heat than the Shuttle (it will be re-entering at 25,000 mph compared yo 17,500 mph), traditional tiles will not be good enough due to the higher temperatures. For Orion's engineering test flight in December 2014, the heatshield used was essentially the same as used on the Apollo, i.e. a glass fibre, resin impregnated ablative material. These are very labour intensive to make and are a single use heat shield.

NASA still hasn't decided whether to retain this style of shielding on the Orion. If they do, they will have to replace the heatshield after each mission - which is doable. They would prefer a permanent heat sink style material that could be used multiple times so they are looking at upgraded versions of the ceramic tile technique.

Although Orion is being built by the good old boys on Congressional pork, so presumably what NASA would like it largely irrelevant as it will be a case of whatever ensures the most jobs in Congressman/Senator A's turf? Or is that too cynical?

[Eric Mc]

A bit unfair, I would say.

I'm sure those working on the engineering side of the project are working their guts out to make it as practical and workable as possible.

I'd prefer not to get into the politics of "government v' private enterprise" on this thread, if at all possible. After all, it's supposed to be about hypersonic space planes.