The thermal protection system (TPS) material that has flown on the last five shuttle flights has the unique properties of electrical and dimensional stability over rapid and extreme temperature changes. The TPS also has the desirable properties of a low dielectric constant (epsilon), a low loss tangent (delta), and a low density (e.g., epsilon = 1.1, tan delta = 0.0007, and a weight of 8 1bs per cubic foot for the TPS FRCI-8 material). Unlike conventional high temperature ceramics that are heavy and do not respond well to thermal shock, the TPS has survived immersion in liquid nitrogen at -295 F and the reentry temperature of +2300 F. The excellent thermal performance of the TPS can be attributed to an extremely low coefficient of thermal expansion (2.7 x 10(exp-7) in/in/F and a low density.
The space shuttle title: A new electronic substrate and radome material
Die Space-Shuttle-Kachel als neues elektronisches Substrat und Radom-Material
Int. Sympos. IEEE 1983 Antennas And Propagation ; 2 ; 350-352
1983
3 Seiten, 2 Bilder
Conference paper
English