Questions tagged [ablator]

A material used in high heat flux locations (e.g., atmospheric entry, rocket nozzles) that ablates and carries away the heat/energy of the flow protecting the structures behind it.

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Why would rocket bodies use specifically ablative coatings to reduce boil-off of cryogenic propellants? Is ablation important for this?

The end of YouTube video Delta IV Heavy Pad Tour, (with CEO Tory Bruno) - Smarter Every Day 199 points to Destin's second "Smarter" channel's video UP CLOSE Delta IV Heavy Launch Pad Tour (...
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Could ablative material sublimation slow down a spacecraft?

Thought experiment illustrated below: Suppose a weird spacecraft entering Earth's atmosphere from low Earth orbit, payload first. Behind it there is an inverted nozzle shaped structure, attached with ...
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Has there ever been an attempt or serious consideration for spacecraft to land on Mars without an ablative-type heat shield?

My answer to Do exploration spacecraft enter Mars atmosphere against Mars rotation, or on the same direction? lauds the use of ablative heat shields for minimizing radiative heating of a spacecraft by ...
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Ablative heat shield and conservation of energy, how much does ablated matter in fact "carry away" versus re-radiate the absorbed heat?

I saw Most heat shields ablate, that is they sacrifice material to carry heat away... in a comment under this answer and started writing: I think that shields ablate to produce a layer of complex ...
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6 votes
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Did the heat shield of the Vostok 1 capsule ablate during reentry?

This Wikipedia article (in german) has some information about the heat shield of Vostok 1. The heat shield was made from asbestos, its thickness was increased from 3 cm to up to 18 cm. The weight of ...
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