Questions tagged [insulation]
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Spacesuit with no thermal insulation. Would person inside freeze or overheat?
Let us say I have a theoretical super thin spacesuit which has zero thermal insulation. As if person would be naked in space, but all other variables - pressure, oxygen, food and other life support ...
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Do the SpaceX Falcon-9 rockets use foam insulation similar to the Space Shuttle? Is it still a potential problem?
The Space Shuttle used polyurethane and polyisocyanurate foams for insulation. A chunk of foam breaking off during launch resulted in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.
Do all chemically-fueled ...
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Is the outside surface temperature of a Falcon 9 below freezing? How is the LOX insulated?
This answer explains how the liquid oxygen in a Falcon 9 is evaporation cooled to maintain a temperature well below boiling, by bubbling helium through it.
The temperature difference to the ...
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Were there any cases of woodpeckers damaging Shuttle External Tank insulation other than that of STS-70?
While researching information about Shuttle External Tank insulation, I came across this quite unusual problem: woodpeckers!
The Wikipedia entry on STS-70 states that:
... on 31 May 1995 shuttle ...
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Apollo CM heat shield burnt pattern around RCS thrusters
Looking through photos of Apollo CM capsules after reentry, I was trying to have a feel for how the heat was distributed on the sides of the capsule.
By the look of surviving patches of Mylar tape ...
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Did any of the Space Shuttles land through rain or rainclouds?
My web research resulted in figuring out that launching Space Shuttles in rain, apart from lightning, wind and turbulence related problems, wasn't permitted due to:
brittleness of the heat shield ...
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Would a vantablack coating on the starlink satellites cause overheating problems? [duplicate]
I'm an amateur astronomer and have recently being hearing space x catching alot of flack for the amount of reflection the satellites would cause. While I believe that program is more important than my ...
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Why did Orbex choose propane as its fuel?
As a follow up to Are there liquid fueled rocket boosters having coaxial fuel/oxidizer tanks? and thinking about JCRM's answer pointing the issue of having a huge contact surface between inner and ...
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How many different kinds of insulation film are wrapped around the Apollo Lunar Module?
In the image shown in the question Why is the Apollo LM landing gear covered with so much thermal isolation? (also shown below) it appears that the color of the film around the bottoms of the lander's ...
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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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Has foam loss been observed in Ariane 5 launches?
Ariane 5 is similar to the Space Shuttle in that both vehicles are powered by SRBs and use foam insulation in cryogenic tanks.
Foam shedding has been a common occurrence during the history of the ...
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What do the insulation and meteorite protection layers being opened on the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft look like?
This current news item in TASS Russian cosmonaut Kononenko approaches Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft for inspection says:
Earlier in the day, the two Russian cosmonauts began their six-hour spacewalk, ...
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Why are LOx plumbing not insulated?(ref: Huzel and Huang)
In the book Modern Engineering for Design of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines, the following excerpt appear in chapter 9 - Interconnecting Components and Mounts:
The liquid-oxygen lines were not ...
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Insulation used in the plumbing line of the actual rockets
While using the pipes for plumbing of the liquid propellants at pretty low temperature because of which ice form on the line if not insulated or poorly insulated, which can lead to liquid to gas ...
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Why is the shuttle's external tank's metal skin painted the same dark color as the foam insulation?
The last flight-qualified space shuttle external tank in existence is now in Los Angeles and moved to its new home over the weekend. I noticed that what appears to be the metal skin under the ...
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What exactly is the orange insulation foam used on many different launch vehicle stages?
What exactly is that orange/rust coloured insulation foam on the Space Shuttle external tank, the H-IIA/B, Delta-IV, and so many other launch vehicles? I remember finding the name of it in a NASA ...
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