Thermal Protection Materials and

Systems: Past, Present, and Future

Sylvia M. Johnson
Entry Systems and Technology Division
NASA Ames Research Center
Sylvia.m.johnson@nasa.gov
Presented at Missouri University of Science and Technology
Rolla, MO
April 4, 2013
 Acknowledgements

• NASA: Thomas Squire, Robin Beck,

Don Ellerby, Matt Gasch, Mairead
Stackpoole, Helen Hwang, Deepak
Bose, Frank Milos, Joe Conley, Dan
Leiser, David Stewart, Ethiraj
Venkatapathy, Bernie Laub, John
Lawson
• ERC: Jay Feldman

2
 Outline
• Introduction
– NASA and TPS
• Thermal Protection Materials and Systems (TPS)
– Reusable materials
– UHTCs
– Ablative materials
• Characterization of TPS for Performance and Design
• A Tale of Two Heat Shields
– Recent Uses and Development of Heat Shields and Materials
Issues
• New Trends in TPS
• Modeling of TPS

3
 NASA Ames Research Center

• Science
– Space, Earth, Biological Sciences
– Astrobiology, Lunar Science
• Exploration Systems
– Exploration Technology Development
– Entry System Technology
– Supercomputing
• Projects and Missions
• Aeronautics & Aviation
– NextGen Airspace Systems
– Fundamental Aeronautics
• Located in Moffett Field (Mountain – Aviation Safety
View) California
– Green Aviation
• 2480 employees* • Affordable Small Satellites
• !900M + annual revenue • Innovation, Education, & Entrepreneurial
(including reimbursable) Collaborations
*in addition, 900 students, – NASA Research Park
summer 2012" 4
NASA Entry Vehicles / Missions
Supported by Ames

5
 Introduction to TPS
• NASA Ames focused on:
– Qualifying and certifying TPS for current missions
– Developing new TPS for upcoming missions
• Approaches to TPS development differ with risk —
crewed vs. robotic missions:
– Crewed
• Loss of life must be avoided
• What must be done to qualify and certify TPS?
– Robotic missions
• Can take more risk
• But scientific knowledge can be lost too
• Goal for all TPS is efficient and reliable performance
• Need to understand materials to enable design and use
6
 Earth Reentry Overview
• Atmospheric reentry vehicles require thermal protection systems
(TPS) because they are subjected to intense heating

• The level of the heating is dependent on:

– Vehicle shape
– Entry speed and flight trajectory
– Atmospheric composition
– TPS material composition & surface properties

• Reentry heating comes from two primary sources

– Convective heating from both the flow of hot gas past the surface of the
vehicle and catalytic chemical recombination reactions at the surface
– Radiation heating from the energetic shock layer in front of the vehicle

7
 Reentry Heating Parameters
• Magnitude of stagnation heating is dependent on a variety of
parameters, including reentry speed (V), vehicle effective radius (R),
and atmospheric density (!)
0.5
$
3 #
'
q˙ conv "V & ) q˙ rad " V 8 #1.2 R 0.5
% R(
Convective Heating Shock Radiation Heating

• As reentry speed increases, both convective and radiation heating

increase
!
!
– At high speeds, radiation heating can quickly dominate
• As the effective vehicle radius increases, R
convective heating decreases,
but radiation heating increases
• Reentry g-loading is a parameter we 2R
are considering

V
 Thermal Protection Systems
• Protect vehicle structure and contents (people and
things) from the heat of entry through an
atmosphere
• Rely on materials response to environment
• Response depends on
– Material properties
– Configuration of the system
– Specific conditions (heat flux, pressure, flow)
One size does not fit all!
Different TPS for different vehicles, location
on vehicles, and mission conditions

9
Reusable (Insulative) vs. Ablative TPS

10!
 Insulative TPS
Energy management through storage and re-radiation — material unchanged

When exposed to free stream

atmospheric entry heating boundary layer

radiation or shock layer
conditions, surface material flux in convective
flux
will heat up and reject heat
in the following ways: radiation
flux out
•Re-radiation from the high emissivity
coating
surface and internal conduction
flux
storage during high heating
low conductivity
condition insulation TPS

•Re-radiation and
convective cooling under
post-flight conditions backup or
structure material

11!
 Reusable TPS: Tiles
• Effort started in 1970’s by ARC to provide NASA with TPS
materials and processing expertise
• Insulation materials used to protect the aluminum sub-structure
of the shuttle.
• High purity silica, aluminoborosilicate, and alumina fibers
• LI-900, FRCI-12, AETB-8
• Open porous structure
• Used on over 100 shuttle missions
Starting materials for tiles

10µm 100 µm
10µm
Silica fibers
Alumina fibers 10µm AETB (35% Al2O3) Tile
Nextel® fibers
Tiles are heterogeneous with regions of low density
and clumps of fibers with some nonfibrous inclusions 12
 Development of Advanced TUFROC TPS
(Toughened Unipiece Fibrous Oxidation Resistant Ceramic)
• Developed TUFROC for X-37 application
• Advanced TUFROC developed recently
• Currently transferring technology to Boeing
• System parameters:
– Lightweight (similar to LI-2200)
– Dimensionally stable at surface temperatures up to1922 K
– High total hemispherical emittance (0.9)
– Low catalytic efficiency
– In-depth thermal response is similar to single piece Shuttle-type fibrous insulation

Graded Surface Treatment Control surface

Cap

ROCCI
Base Insulator

Fibrous Insulation Wing leading edge

Nose cap
X-37 Reentry Vehicle
Schematic of TUFROC TPS
13
 X-37B after Landing

TUROC is on Leading Edges

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-06/air-forces-mysterious-x-37b-space-plane-returns-earth-after-15-months-orbit
 Sharp Leading Edge Energy Balance

• Insulators and UHTCs manage energy in different

ways:
– Insulators store energy until it can be eliminated in the
same way as it entered
– UHTCs conduct energy through the material and reradiate
it through cooler surfaces
Sharp Nose

UHTC
High
Thermal Leading Edges
Conductivity
Sharp Nose

Dean Kontinos, Ken Gee and Dinesh Prabhu. “Temperature Constraints at the Sharp Leading Edge of a
Crew Transfer Vehicle.” AIAA 2001-2886 35th AIAA Thermophysics Conference, 11-14 June 2001,
Anaheim CA 15
 Ultra High Temperature Ceramics (UHTCs) :
A Family of Materials
• Borides, carbides and nitrides of
transition elements such as hafnium,
zirconium, tantalum and titanium
• Some of highest known melting
points
• High hardness, good wear
resistance, good mechanical
strength
Hf-B Phase Diagram
• Good chemical and thermal stability
under certain conditions
– High thermal conductivity
– Good thermal shock resistance
• Considerable effort in many
institutions to improve properties and
processing of UHTCs

16
 Ablative TPS
Energy management through material consumption

When exposed to
atmospheric entry heating
conditions, material will
pyrolyze (char), and reject
heat in the following ways:
•Pyrolysis of polymer
•Blowing in boundary layer
•Formation of char layer
and re-radiation

17!
 PICA Processing

Carbon Fiberform™

Resin Impregnation
Phenolic Resin!
Fiberform™ before impregnation

PICA: Fiberform™ PICA Arc Jet Drying Cycle

with phenolic resin Model 18
 PICA Background
• Phenolic Impregnated Carbon
Ablator (PICA) was an enabling
TPS material for the Stardust
mission where it was used as a
single piece heatshield
• PICA has the advantages of low Image of the sample return capsule post
flight with PICA as the forebody TPS.
density (~0.27g/cm3) coupled with (0.8m diameter)

efficient ablative capability at high

heat fluxes
• PICA is the primary heatshield for
Mars Science Lab (MSL) and
SpaceX’s Dragon vehicle in a tiled
configuration
MSL Heat Shield
19
(4.5m diameter)
 Characterization of TPS

• Why characterize materials so extensively?

– Evaluate performance
– Select appropriate materials
– Verify manufacturing reliability
– Enable modeling of behavior
– Design system/heatshield
– Correlate processing and properties to improve
materials

20
 Example: Ablator Properties
• Evaluating:
– Virgin/char strength
– Recession rate
– Thermal conductivity
• Evaluating the
interconnection between
properties
– Tradeoffs
– Greater density = greater
strength, but generally
increased thermal
conductivity
21
 Material Properties
• Thermal properties
– Thermal conductivity, specific heat, thermal
expansion
• Physical properties
– Density, hardness, emissivity
• Mechanical properties
– Strength, elastic modulus, toughness
• Properties may vary with temperature and/
or pressure (porous materials)
• Microstructure depends on processing and
composition 22
 Properties for Modeling and Design of
Ablators

Thermal Response Model Thermal Structural Analysis

Density (virgin/char) Tensile:
strength, modulus, strain to failure
Thermal Conductivity (virgin/char)
Compressive:
Specific Heat (virgin/char)
strength, modulus, strain to failure
Emissivity & Solar Absorptivity (virgin/char) Shear:
Elemental Composition (virgin/char) strength, modulus, strain to failure
Thermal Gravimetric Analysis Poisson’s Ratio

Porosity & Gas Permeability Thermal Expansion (virgin/char)

Heat of Combustion (virgin/char) TPS/Carrier System Tests

Tensile strength
Heat of Pyrolysis Shear strength

23
 Need for Arc Jet Testing
• Arc jet testing is the best ground-
based method of evaluating a
material’s oxidation/ablation
response in re-entry environments
• Oxidation/ablation behavior on
heating in static or flowing air at
ambient pressures is likely to be
significantly different than in a re-
entry environment.
– O2 and N2 may be dissociated
• Catalycity of the material
• Recombination of O and N atoms
adds to surface heating
– Stagnation pressures may be <1 atm.
• active to passive transitions in
oxidation
– SiC : protective SiO2 layer is
removed as SiO
24
 Arc Jet Schematic
Simulates reentry conditions in a ground-based facility

Gas Temp. High Energy Flow!

> 12000 F Mach 5 - 7 at exit
10-45 MJ/kg Vacuum Test Chamber!
Simulates altitudes 30 – 60 km

Method: Heat a test gas (air) to plasma temperatures by an electric arc, then
accelerate into a vacuum chamber and onto a stationary test article

Stine, H.A.; Sheppard, C.E.; Watson, V.R. Electric Arc Apparatus. U.S. Patent 3,360,988, January 2, 1968.
25
 Selection of Appropriate Material

• Historical approach:
– Use heritage materials: “It’s worked before…”
– Risk-reduction strategy
– Limited number of flight-qualified ablative materials
– Different vehicle configurations and reentry conditions
(need to qualify materials in relevant environments)
• As missions become more demanding, we need
higher capability materials — necessary to have a
robust research and development program
• Reusable and ablative materials are both needed
• Must test materials in relevant environments
• Provide path for insertion/use of new materials
26
 Technology Readiness Levels

https://www.spacecomm.nasa.gov/spacecomm/images//technology_TRLS.gif 27
 A Tale of Two Heatshields

• 2 Vehicles
– CEV/Orion/MPCV
– Mars Science Lab (MSL)
• 2 destinations
– Earth from the moon
– Mars from Earth
• 2 materials
– PICA
– Avcoat
28
 MPCV (Orion) TPS Requirements

• Multi-purpose Crew Vehicle

(MPCV) Lunar Direct Return
Back Shell
(LDR) conditions:
– 11 km/s atmospheric entry
– peak heat rate > 1000 W/cm2
• MPCV Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
return conditions:
– 8 km/s atmospheric entry
– peak heat rate > 150 W/cm2
• Early TPS development
work focused on PICA for Heatshield
this application

29
 PICA Background
• Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator
(PICA) was an enabling TPS material for
the Stardust mission (sample return from a
comet) where it was used as a single
piece heatshield

• PICA reached TRL9 for this application

and configuration
Sample return capsule post-flight with PICA as
the forebody TPS. (0.8m diameter)
• PICA has the advantages of low density
(~0.27g/cm3) coupled with efficient ablative
capability at high heat fluxes

• As-flown PICA was characterized and

compared to model predictions

30
 From PICA ……..
• PICA had heritage…for Stardust
– Needed development effort for new applications
• PICA was to be used in a tiled configuration
– Tiles require gap fillers or a way to deal with
gaps
– PICA is a rigid material with a relatively low
strength and strain to failure
– Risk analysis and design indicated that many
small tiles would be required, increasing the
number of gaps.
• PICA was extensively characterized and
considerable effort was put into scale-up and
manufacturing 31
 …..to Avcoat
• Avcoat was used on the
Apollo vehicles:
“heritage” material
• Consists of a honeycomb
filled with an ablative
mixture
• Reduces gaps
• Complex material
requiring hand assembly
Before and after
• Not made for many years Avcoat arc jet models
32
 Heatshield Comparison

PICA Acreage TPS Avcoat Acreage TPS

Layout: Layout
•440 tiles •18 Gore Honeycomb Panels
•133 Unique Tile Planforms •18 Shoulder Panels
•832 Gap Fillers • 1 Center Panel
RTV-SIP-RTV attachment to Bond honeycomb to carrier
carrier structure structure and ablator filled-in and
cured. 33
 AVCOAT Process Steps
• 9 stages in AVCOAT process
• Complex processes require extensive
characterization and understanding to
– Ensure reliability/reproducibility
– Prepare/maintain meaningful process
specifications

34
 Avcoat for MPCV Heatshield
• Avcoat construction schematic showing the various steps and
processes involved in building the honeycombed ablator
• Red arrows indicate areas were process changes were implemented

35
Issues with “Heritage” Materials
• Know-how may be lost over time
• Materials/components may no longer be
available
• Environmental/safety regulations may not
allow the use of certain processes
• Recreation of materials can be time and
money-consuming
– $25+million and 5 years has been spent on
recreating Avcoat
• Is it really “Avcoat”?
36
 Meanwhile, Mars Science Lab in
Development
• MSL was being fabricated
simultaneously with CEV/Orion
(MPCV)
• Initial choice for a heatshield TPS was
SLA-561V, a heritage honeycomb-
based material from Lockheed
• SLA-561V was used on all previous
NASA Mars entry missions
• However, MSL was much larger …..
37
SLA Subjected to Shear in Arc-Jet

Post test photo

Note many cells completely emptied

During test 38
 Change of TPS Late in the Game

• Original choice of TPS did not pass shear

tests
• Needed to use a more capable TPS
• PICA was chosen
• Previous/ongoing development of PICA for
CEV/Orion
Availability of data/processes critical in
enabling the heat shield material to be
qualified, certified and fabricated in time (18
months)
39
5/15/13!
Mars Science Lab (MSL) Spacecraft

Cruise Stage

Backshell

Descent
Stage

Rover
Heatshield

Entry
Vehicle
41
Heatshield Fabrication in Process

RASB: 42
Heatshield Fabricated (gaps filled)

RASB: 43
Spacecraft Assembled

RASB: 44
MSL/Curiosity Landed Successfully
on August 5, 2012 (PDST)
• http://

Landing sequence

Picture of capsule on parachute

descending towards Mars

Curiosity on Mars www.nasa.gov 45

 MSL Heatshield on Mars

The four main pieces of

hardware that arrived on Mars
with NASA's Curiosity
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ.
of Arizona

Heat shield about 50 feet (16 meters) from the spacecraft.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
46
 Space-X Dragon Capsule
2nd Successful Flight May 2012

Before: capsule is painted After landing: note charring on heatshield

Space-X used their own version of PICA known as PICA-X

www.spacex.com 47
 Orion
• The Orion spacecraft will take astronauts beyond low Earth orbit (LEO)
to deep space.
– emergency abort capability,
– sustain the crew
– provide safe re-entry from deep space.
• Exploration Flight Test-1, an uncrewed mission planned for 2014.
– Orion will travel farther into space than any human spacecraft has gone in more than 40
years.
– EFT-1 data will influence design decisions, validate existing computer models and
innovative new approaches to space systems development, as well as reduce overall
mission risks and costs.
• Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the EFT-1 flight.
• System has 5 elements
– Launch Abort System (LAS) – Propels the Orion Crew Module to safety in an emergency
during launch or ascent
– The Orion Crew Module (CM) – Houses and transports NASA’s astronauts during
spaceflight missions•
– The Service Module (SM) – Contains Orion’s propulsion, power and life support systems
– The Spacecraft Adaptor and Fairings – Connects Orion to the launch vehicle
– The Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle to Stage Adaptor (MSA) – Connects the entire vehicle
structure to the kick stage of the rocket

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/ 48
545955main_mpcvstack_full.jpg
 Exploration Flight Test One

Orion will launch atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket for the test flight, as shown in this configuration. The planned
two orbit flight will send Orion out farther into space than any human spaceflight vehicle since the Apollo 17
49
mission in 1972.
 Crew Module in Construction

•Crew module is being constructed by Lockheed Martin

•Heatshield for EFT1is Avcoat 50
 Orion During EFT1

Artist’s rendition of Orion during EFT 1

51
 Outline
• Introduction
– NASA and TPS
• Thermal Protection Materials and Systems (TPS)
– Reusable materials
– UHTCs
– Ablative materials
• Characterization of TPS for Performance and Design
• A Tale of Two Heat Shields
– Recent Uses and Development of Heat Shields and Materials
Issues
• New Trends in TPS
• Modeling of TPS

52
 What are Rigid, Conformable and
Flexible Ablative Materials?
• Rigid – fabricated in a rigid form and usually
applied in a tiled configuration to a rigid
substructure
• Conformable – fabricated in a flexible form
and shaped to a rigid substructure; final
form may be rigid or compliant
• Flexible – fabricated and used in a flexible
form, where flexibility is an essential
component of the heatshield, e.g.,
deployable systems, stowable systems
• Woven – can be any of the above
53
 Conformable/Flexible Ablators
• Fibrous substrate, such as felt or woven cloth
• Matrix of various resins and fillers
• Significant design, system integration, and
performance advantages over rigid ablators
– Manufacturability
– Reduction in piece-parts
– Ease of assembly
– Enables larger diameter aeroshells
– Eliminates gap and seam issues

54
Conformable PICA Flexible PICA
 Conformable Ablator (C-PICA) Testing

Model Before Testing

During Testing

C-SICA

Post Test

55
 Carbon Phenolic TPS
• Carbon Phenolic TPS
– 1960s: fully dense (1.45-1.5 g/cm3) carbon
phenolics were optimized
– only materials available for use at very high
heat fluxes and high pressure conditions,
yet the least favorable
in terms of density
• Carbon phenolic material made from
carbon fiber weaves fully infiltrated with
phenolic resin
• Carbon phenolic TPS was used on Gallileo
heat shield for very demanding entry
into Jupiter’s atmosphere
• Current effort to investigate approaches to
fabricating carbon phenolic materials
– Issues with fiber supplies
– Entry Grade CP needs Avtex Rayon – not
56
produced since 1986
 TPS for Saturn and Uranus Probes

TPS GAP
• The only flight proven TPS that can meet the extreme entry
environment (heat-flux, pressure, etc) for Saturn and Uranus
Probes, is heritage, entry grade carbon phenolic (HEGCP)
POC: Ethiraj.Venkatapathy-1@nasa.gov 57
 What is Woven TPS?
An approach to the design and manufacturing of ablative TPS by the
combination of weaving precise placement of fibers in an optimized
3D woven manner and then resin transfer molding when needed
• Design TPS for a specific mission
• Tailor material composition by weaving together different
types of fibers and by exact placement using computer
controlled, automated, 3-D weaving technology
• One-step process for making a mid-density dry woven
TPS
• Ability to infiltrate woven preforms with polymeric resins
for highest density TPS to meet more demanding thermal
requirements
Woven TPS Project Goals:!
• Develop and prove feasibility of woven TPS manufacturing
technique "
• Demonstrate via testing low, mid and high-density WTPS to fill
the mid-density gap as well as finding a superior replacement for
the heritage carbon phenolic"
58
POC: Ethiraj.Venkatapathy-1@nasa.gov
 Arc Jet Tested Woven TPS

3-D WTPS materials recess more uniformly and have better recession
performance than traditional chop molded carbon phenolic

59
POC: Ethiraj.Venkatapathy-1@nasa.gov
 Outline
• Introduction
– NASA and TPS
• Thermal Protection Materials and Systems (TPS)
– Reusable materials
– UHTCs
– Ablative materials
• Characterization of TPS for Performance and Design
• A Tale of Two Heat Shields
– Recent Uses and Development of Heat Shields and Materials
Issues
• New Trends in TPS
• Modeling of TPS

60
 Instrumentation
• All atmospheric entries are essentially
“experiments” from which we should gather
data
• Data used to validate models and
understand materials behavior better
• MSL was instrumented
– MEDLI: Mars Entry Descent Landing
Instrumentation

61
Importance of MSL Instrumentation

• MEDLI is the most extensive ablative heat

shield instrumentation suite since Apollo
– 7 pressure sensors, 26 near surface and
in-depth thermocouples, 6 isotherm
sensors
• Data being used to validate and improve
Mars entry aerothermodynamic and TPS
response models
• Better models mean TPS safety margin can
be reduced and science payload increased
62
Computational Modeling of UHTCs Will
Enhance Development

Goals
• Reduce materials development time
• Optimize material properties/tailor materials
• Guide processing of materials
• Develop design approaches
Approach
• Develop models integrated across various length
scales
• Correlate models with experiment whenever
possible

63
 Modeling UHTCs – What’s Next?
• Accomplishments
– Ab initio calculations of lattice structure, bonding
characteristics, elastic constants, phonon spectra and
thermal properties of ZrB2 and HfB2
– Ab initio calculations of formation and migration energies
for simple defects (vacancies)
– Development of interatomic potentials for ZrB2 and HfB2 for
atomistic simulations
• Opportunities
– Ab initio calculations of simple/ideal grain boundary
structures with and without chemical impurities
– No UHTC atomistic simulations exist in the literature. New
potentials mean the field is wide open!
– FEM modeling of microstructure to relate processing and
properties

64
 Fundamental Modeling of Ablators
• Ablators for most demanding atmospheric entries
• Intrinsically multi-scale materials and phenomena
• Pyrolysis chemistry (ab initio)
– Pyrolysis simulation is very challenging: no
current solution
• Phenolic networks (atomistic)
– Virtual mechanical and thermal testing
– Phenolic network design parameters:
Linkage Sites and Cross-linking
• Microstructure Modeling (continuum)
– X-ray CT images gives 3D micron scale, PICA - carbon fiber/phenolic matrix
realistic microstructure
– FEM models for thermal/mechanical
analysis

65
 Summary
• Two main classes plus specialized materials
– Insulating, e.g. space shuttle tiles
– Ablators for higher heat fluxes
– New materials for new missions – woven, conformable, etc.
• TPS needs to fit the application—location on vehicle,
expected environment
• Heritage materials may not always be heritage
– Substantial effort required to recreate
• Need to gain full data value from flights/experiments:
instrumentation is key
• Critical to characterize materials and archive data
– For selecting appropriate material
– To ensure material demonstrates desired behavior
– To have materials ready for new missions
• Modeling and analysis are critical to better understanding and
prediction of material behavior in reentry
Goal of all TPS is reliable and efficient performance! 66
The End

67
 Manufacturing Variability
• Real-world manufacturing processes have
inherent variability.
– These variations can lead to scatter in the
material properties.
• Necessary to quantify allowable lot-to-lot
and in-lot variability of properties.
– This may also include acceptable flaw and
inclusion size.

68
 TPS for Outer Planet Missions: Carbon Phenolic
Current Status
• Heritage Entry Grade Carbon Phenolic (HEGCP) CMCP
– Most capable and robust TPS
– Baseline TPS for the Saturn and Uranus Probe Missions
– HEGCP is very capable, robust and enabled P-V & Galileo &
is flight proven
• Carbon Phenolic (CP) heat-shield is made of two types !
– Chop Molded and Tape Wrapped CP" TWCP
• Tape wrap manufacturing needed for Rocket nozzles and DoDʼs !
slender entry body missiles – sustainable !
• Chop Molded CP is needed only for NASA entry missions!
• HEGCP needs Avtex Rayon – no longer produced (since 1986)!
• NASA held two CP workshops (2010, 2012) to assess the SOA!
– Heritage rayon based CP no longer viable for Venus (or Saturn) "
– The industry is shrinking; especially for CMCP and longer term sustainability of any
CP is a ??!

NASA is addressing this challenge through Innovative TPS development

Funded by Game Changing Development Program of STP and SMD
POC: Ethiraj.Venkatapathy-1@nasa.gov 69
 Models After Testing @ 250 W/cm2 on flank – 60 sec

C-PICA

C-SICA
 Examples of conAblators Under Development

Rigid Conformable Flexible Woven TPS

Ablators Ablators Ablators

Advanced PICA Flexible PICA

-like ablators Mid density TPS
Conformable PICA

Carbon phenolic
Graded Ablators Flexible SIRCA replacement

71
Completed SPRITE 250
Models
 Models After Testing @ 500 W/cm2 on flank – 30 sec

C-PICA

C-SICA