#heat shield

[unbfacts]

The Space Shuttle’s thermal protection system used silica tiles that dissipated heat so rapidly you could safely handle them just seconds after they’d been exposed to 2,200°F, thanks to their extremely low thermal conductivity.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Artemis Mission Route in 3D

This animation visualizes the Artemis mission trajectory in a dynamic 3D perspective, showing how the spacecraft travels through the Earth–Moon system, while all celestial bodies are in motion.

Instead of a static path, the Sun, Earth and Moon move simultaneously, revealing the true complexity of orbital mechanics.

The result highlights how the Artemis route is not a simple curve, but a constantly shifting trajectory shaped by gravity and motion.

This view provides a clearer understanding of how modern space missions navigate through space in real time.

Right now, Artemis is on its return path to Earth and is expected to arrive back soon as it completes its mission.

The sizes and distances of the Sun, Earth, and Moon are not to scale and are adjusted for visual purposes.

[todayspace]

Why Artemis II’s reentry may be the moon mission’s greatest challenge yet

Before NASA’s moon mission launched, experts sounded the alarm over the Orion capsule’s heat shield and reentry. Now splashdown is just one

Posted: april 9, 2026

[chieffoxtheorist]

[therealuniverse]

In 1988, the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched on a highly classified mission with almost no public warning beforehand, to launch an intelligence satellite. During that flight, the shuttle was struck by debris from the top of the Solid Rocket Booster, causing heavy damage to the shuttle's protective tiles. Because of the classified nature of the mission, many of the details of that damage were not made available, even during the mission itself. This video tells the story of that mission, and even displays the report conducted after this damage that suggests NASA should attempt to eliminate other sources of debris strikes on the shuttle, most notably from the External Tank - eerily presaging the foam strike that caused the Columbia disaster in 2003.

[nowscience-blog]

Why 2200°F space shuttle heat tiles won’t burn your bare hands

In the video you’ll see a giant industrial oven at Kennedy Space Center baking blocks of the material used in the shuttle’s thermal tiles. The small white cubes are LI-900, a type of low-density surface insulation composed almost entirely of silica glass fibers. They are basically pure quartz sand that are 94% air by volume.

LI-900 can be heated to 2200°F, which is exactly what the blocks in the video are heated to. Even after being subjected to that temperature for so long, they can be picked up almost immediately after being taken out of the oven.

Air and silica glass are both extremely poor conductors of heat, and thus great insulators. That’s why you can touch them after coming out of a super-hot oven. On the Space Shuttle, they protected the aluminum hull from the heat of reentry. The tiles were not mechanically attached to the craft, but were instead glued so they could be easily repaired.

Many of the tiles were replaced after each flight, especially after a damaged heat shield led to the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003.

[intelligentliving]

Researchers Create New Nanotube Heat Shield To Protect Extremely Fast Aircraft

Rockets, satellites, and jet aircraft need to be highly resistant to extreme temperatures. This heat shield of nanotubes could protect them.

[dielukedie-subaru]

New Zero/Sports style ball joint shields, cotter pins and castle nuts ready for install on the LGT.