A spinning heat shield to lower their cost and weight
Link here. Key quote:
Made of a flexible, strong and heat-resistant material that folds down when not in use, his shield automatically starts spinning like a samara-type tree seed when exposed to the onrush of air that a spacecraft would experience when dropping through a planet’s atmosphere.
As it spins, centrifugal force causes its skirt-like sides to flare out and stiffen. This creates the drag needed to help slow the descent, while also providing a large protective surface for the dissipation of heat. No additional machinery, other than the shield itself, is required for its deployment.
“Since this prototype is lightweight and flexible enough for use on smaller satellites, research could be made easier and cheaper,” says Wu. “The heat shield would also help save cost in recovery missions, as its high induced drag reduces the amount of fuel burned upon re-entry.”
More details here. Very clever. It needs to be tested to see if it can work.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Link here. Key quote:
Made of a flexible, strong and heat-resistant material that folds down when not in use, his shield automatically starts spinning like a samara-type tree seed when exposed to the onrush of air that a spacecraft would experience when dropping through a planet’s atmosphere.
As it spins, centrifugal force causes its skirt-like sides to flare out and stiffen. This creates the drag needed to help slow the descent, while also providing a large protective surface for the dissipation of heat. No additional machinery, other than the shield itself, is required for its deployment.
“Since this prototype is lightweight and flexible enough for use on smaller satellites, research could be made easier and cheaper,” says Wu. “The heat shield would also help save cost in recovery missions, as its high induced drag reduces the amount of fuel burned upon re-entry.”
More details here. Very clever. It needs to be tested to see if it can work.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Interesting concept!
Perhaps an underappreciated corollary of cheap(er) launchers and increased orbital access is the scrutiny of every aspect of navigating orbital space. Sci-fi the blueprint: capitalism the engine.
In my opinion. More moving parts=higher risk of failure.
Genius…
My first thought was how baby spiders travel in the wind on a single retractable strand of light-weight, high tensile strength silk.
Maybe a strand-a-chute could replace a parachute??
Out of the box thinking!
But how do you keep the very high speed spin from being imparted to the craft?
High mass craft will fly apart or at least break.
I could see this being useful for small sat sized craft under 10 LB’s. Basically a good solid sensor pack injected into a planets atmosphere in hopes it can slow down enough to land still working.
pzatchok,
Because the heat shield flares out, like the skirt of a spinning figure skater, the spin does not have to be large in order to hold open the shield. The forces are directly proportional to the diameter of the flared shield and are proportional to the square of the spin speed. The intention is for the shield to make itself significantly larger than the craft that it is protecting, allowing for larger forces holding it open than the forces on the lander’s parts. Some of the deployable parts of the lander may need to be held better than for a non-spinning reentry, but that should be possible. It may be possible to make the lander a de-spun section, allowing for this shield to be used on manned missions.
What amazes me most on this topic is that the heat shield is designed as a flexible item. This is the first time that I have heard of a flexible reentry heat shield.