Re: Mars Polar Landing

From: Frank Niebling (ni@terra.lft.uni-erlangen.de)
Date: Tue Dec 07 1999 - 10:33:00 EET


> I hear the heat shield was made on an SLA (just kidding)
> Bob Morton
> Fusion Engineering

Hello,
about the material you aren't totally wrong with your joke. In earlier
times NASA used some kind of epoxy for the heat shield. Plastics
have a low thermal conductivity, so only the outer exposed surface
of the heat shield vapourises and the heat isn't conducted to the
inside.

But:
Probably the landing gear was made on an SLA...
(Please don't tell me now something about the good damping
abilities of plastics)

Bye,
Frank

Dipl.-Ing. Frank Niebling

Department of Manufacturing Technology
University Erlangen-Nürnberg
Egerlandstr. 11
91058 Erlangen
Germany

Tel.: +49 (0) 91 31/ 85-2 79 54
Fax: +49 (0) 91 31/ 36 403

E-mail: f.niebling@lft.uni-erlangen.de

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