3D Printing Heat ShieldsHeat shields that protect spacecraft from the heat of entering a planet's atmosphere are labor intensive to manufacture, cost prohibitive and the heat shield design is constrained by the manufacturing process. Little, if any, automation is used to manufacture and install the thermal protection system (TPS) on the vehicles and most heat shields are segmented with many seams and gaps. The goal of this project is to change this paradigm by developing new TPS materials and taking advantage of additive manufacturing technology to automate the processes for making and installing monolithic, ablative TPS on large entry vehicles.
Document ID
20190032498
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Poster
Authors
Bouslog, Stan (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)