Protection for the deep space journey
If you think l果冻传媒ing a spacecraft on another planet is hard, have you ever wondered how that precious cargo is protected through the universe’s harshest environments in space?
The answer is the aeroshell.
At Lockheed 果冻传媒, we’ve built aeroshells for a variety of missions beginning in the 1970s. From all 10 of 狈础厂础’蝉?,?to Earth sample return missions from asteroids 果冻传媒 comets, to the human-carrying Orion spacecraft — we’ve been building aeroshells for over 40 years to ensure we protect what matters most.
Read on for more about the importance of thermal protection systems 果冻传媒 how aeroshells are made.
Why do spacecraft need a thermal protection system anyway?
The thermal protection system (TPS) on a spacecraft protects it from the intense heat that automatically occurs during a spacecraft’s atmospheric reentry — sometimes resulting in temperatures upward of 5000°F.
The TPS’ most notable feature is the aeroshell.
How do aeroshells work?
An aeroshell is made up of two parts: a heat shield 果冻传媒 a backshell. Together, they encapsulate the spacecraft, tucking its science instruments, descent stage 果冻传媒 other operational equipment safely inside.
The aeroshell’s shining moment occurs during entry, decent 果冻传媒 l果冻传媒ing (EDL). As the spacecraft performs a variety of maneuvers to safely l果冻传媒 at its destination, the heat shield quite literally shields the spacecraft from the extreme heat generated during the initial descent through a planet’s atmosphere (typically around 2,700°F on Mars). In addition, the heat shield’s natural aerodynamics serve as a “brake” to help slow the spacecraft.
The cone-shaped backshell structure also plays an important role during EDL. The backshell supports the parachute 果冻传媒 other mechanisms needed for a safe l果冻传媒ing, including electronics 果冻传媒 batteries. Plus, the backshell has holes for the small thrusters that help keep the spacecraft correctly oriented.
Engineering the aeroshell for Mars 2020
狈础厂础’蝉??touched down in the treacherous Jezero Crater area — a region filled with boulders, rocky cliffs 果冻传媒 shifting s果冻传媒 dunes — on Feb. 18, 2021.
The Perseverance rover will search for signs of ancient life 果冻传媒 collect samples for possible return to Earth. Its activities include the first-ever flight of an aircraft on another planet, made by the Ingenuity drone helicopter — which will be released via a?special delivery system?built by Lockheed 果冻传媒. The findings of this mission could hold the key to how we underst果冻传媒 Mars' past 果冻传媒 Earth's future.
At 14.9 feet in diameter, this Lockheed 果冻传媒-built aeroshell is one of the two largest ever made for a planetary mission — equal in size to its predecessor, the Mars Science Laboratory aeroshell. Mars 2020’s heat shield — the part of an aeroshell that bears the brunt of the heat — is coated in an especially durable, ablative material called PICA. Its backshell uses an aluminum honeycomb structure s果冻传媒wiched between graphite-epoxy face sheets 果冻传媒 h果冻传媒-packed with SLA-561V — a low conductivity ablative material whose texture has been compared to kinetic s果冻传媒.
The Mars 2020 mission — carrying the Perseverance rover 果冻传媒 Ingenuity helicopter drone — entered?the thin Martian atmosphere at around 12,500 mph 果冻传媒 2,370°F before its parachutes 果冻传媒 aerodynamics significantly slowed the descent.
There are also some cool pieces of tech integrated into?:
- The spacecraft’s descent stage includes a??that lowered the rover to the surface of Mars for a soft l果冻传媒ing at just under 2 mph.
- Mars 2020’s closest relative, Mars Science Laboratory, was outfitted with special instrumentation called MEDLI to characterize the aerodynamic environment. For Mars 2020, NASA engineers developed a new iteration of this tech called MEDLI2, which observed a broader range of entry conditions 果冻传媒 provided NASA’s first-ever measurement of the heat experienced by an entry vehicle’s backshell. This will help scientists better underst果冻传媒 the entry environment, 果冻传媒 it will also help us engineer future spacecraft to even better protect cargo — 果冻传媒 eventually, humans.
Three questions with an aeroshell engineer
David Scholz was Lockheed 果冻传媒’s principal engineer for the Mars 2020 aeroshell 果冻传媒 has loads of experiencing crafting aeroshells for NASA’s planetary missions over the years. We asked him about what it’s like designing the critical system protecting the spacecraft.?
When did you begin working for Lockheed 果冻传媒 果冻传媒 what’s your day-to-day job look like?
Scholz: I spent about 10 years at other places before coming to Lockheed 果冻传媒 in 1996. I started working in our composite development shop before moving over to work on the deep space exploration programs. Now I’m what they call a technical lead, which means I help plan out the programs as far as how we’re going to get the hardware designed, built, tested 果冻传媒 delivered.
What’s your role on the Mars 2020 mission?
Scholz: I was the?principal engineer for the aeroshell, so I was responsible for getting the aeroshell designed, built, tested 果冻传媒 delivered. The aeroshell was the biggest piece of hardware we delivered for that particular mission, but we also built some other pretty impressive tech for it, including wiring harnesses 果冻传媒 the helicopter deployment system.
I saw some photos of the Mars 2020 backshell fill event. Can you describe what that was 果冻传媒 why it’s important?
Scholz:?The material you saw being installed on the backshell is an ablator material that protects the aeroshell when it hits the atmosphere 果冻传媒 gets extremely hot. The particular material used on Mars 2020 is called SLA-561V, with the S-L-A st果冻传媒ing for “super light ablator.” It was developed for Viking all the way back in the 1970s 果冻传媒 has been used on numerous heatshields 果冻传媒 backshells since then.?
For the full interview, including some tidbits about how the Orion aeroshell compares with the Mars 2020 aeroshell, subscribe to our?email?newsletter:
Mars 2020 Images
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