AbstractThe HERMES thermal protection system for the reentry is a new challenge for the designer.Compared to the system operational to day which is the U.S. Orbiter, the smaller size and higher cross range of HERMES are inducing higher working temperatures and a longer duration for the hot phase of the reentry. Hence the overall weight of the TPS system is comparatively more critical than on the Orbiter.On the other hand since the conception of the Orbiter a lot of new materials, namely ceramic composites, have been developped, and may lead to more efficient concepts of TPS.In the initial studies on HERMES TPS systems a lot of possibilites were considered, including External passive TPS, Hot structures, Active TPS.This selection has been now shortlisted to three basic concepts, with a number of variant or back ups still under consideration: • Ceramic composites hot structures for the nose, leading edges, fins and control surfaces• External insulation : composite ceramic shingles covering a lightweight thermal insulation (or rigid surface insulation (tiles) as a back up solution) for the hot undersurfaces and part of the upper surface.• Flexible surface insulation for the lower temperature upper surfaces.The paper presents details on the concepts being studied, the optimisation methods and the concept selection criteria.
Hermes thermal protection system overview
Acta Astronautica ; 16 ; 391-399
1987-01-01
9 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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