NASA Upgrading Orion Spacecraft with Metallic Silver Coating

When the capsule is in deep space, it will experience extremely cold temperatures, and it’s going to need a way to limit heat loss.

Therefore, enhancing the overall system in advance of the spacecraft’s next mission – a flight that will put Orion through the harshest set of conditions yet, is NASA’s latest mission.

As it hurtles through the atmosphere at almost 11,000 metres per second, the craft will reach the rather high temperature of 2,200 degrees Celsius, so a silver, metallic-based thermal control coating will also be bonded to the crew module’s thermal protection system back shell tiles. In its next return-trip to Earth, scheduled to come after a three-week space mission, Orion is expected to encounter hotter and faster conditions than on its last flight.

NASA says the coating will help Orion’s back shell maintain a temperature on the exterior of the spacecraft from -100°C to to 290°C while in space. It is to be noticed that with even slightest of the speed difference, temperature increases exponentially and Orion’s new shield will get test during re-entry where the speed and temperature experienced will be maximum. A grid of specialized thermal tiles cover the rest of the spacecraft – known as the back shell – also limiting the intense heat felt inside the capsule.

An illustration of the Orion spacecraft returning to Earth with the silver, metallic-based thermal control coating.

In preparation for Orion’s EM-1 mission, NASA engineers are active making the Orion space probe challenging sufficient to withstand faster speeds and higher temperature. When in space, as Orion faces away from the Sun, the new insulating coating will help keep the vehicle warm.

This time the heat shield has been constructed from about 180 blocks instead of having one monolithic outer layer.

Crafting a heat shield for an interstellar spacecraft is complicated; it must be able to shield the craft from extreme heat while near a hot body such as the Sun and while entering the atmosphere of a planet, but it also needs to retain heat while in a colder, more distant location.

In addition, engineers have found ways to reduce the mass of the heat shield’s underlying structure, which is composed of a titanium skeleton and carbon fiber skin.

Orion flew its first test mission in December of 2014, when it climbed to about 5,800 km above the Earth’s surface before returning through the atmosphere, deploying parachutes and splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.

An artist’s impression of the Orion spacecraft with the European Space Agency’s service module.