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NASA and ALS Use X-Rays and AI to Study Heat Shields in Real Time
Developing
In Short: NASA and the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have collaborated to study heat shields in real time using X-rays and AI.
Researchers at NASA and the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a new method to observe heat shields as they degrade during reentry into Earth's atmosphere.
To address the gap in understanding what happens during the intense heating of up to 1650℃ that heat shields experience, scientists designed a specialized chamber that can expose materials to up to 900℃, the temperature at which heat shield materials begin to break down.
Vishnu Oruganti, a lead researcher on the project and now at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, noted that nearly every major NASA ablative heat shield material has been studied with this technique, including those relevant to the Artemis and Mars entry missions.
The cork particles in the NASA SLA-561V heat shield vaporize rapidly upon heating, creating hollow voids in the material. This process, known as ablation, allows thermal energy to transfer into pieces of the material, which then fall away from the spacecraft.
Using this imaging system, researchers can capture rapid-fire intermediate resolution scans and convert them into high-resolution, fast 3D records of the material as it degrades.
Heat shields are crucial for spacecraft reentry, and improving them has been challenging due to the limited data available from before and after reentry.
Given the usefulness of this imaging system, it is likely that companies involved in spacecraft reentries will soon seek to use this technology.
Heat shields have been a standard feature in spacecraft from the Mercury capsules to the Orion capsules used in the Artemis missions.
What this adds
This new imaging system provides real-time data on how heat shields degrade, which was previously only available through post-reentry analysis.
Background
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee on Thursday, aimed at real-time monitoring of pollution sources in the city.
What's still developing
- To fix that simulation gap, scientists need to understand what is happening during the 1650℃ heating the materials experience during reentry, rather than simply look at the aftermath.
- But, given the usefulness of this imaging system, it might be just a matter of time before the company responsible for the vast majority of reentries today comes knocking at LBNL’s door.
- Heat shields are undeniably one of the most important parts of any spacecraft that intends to enter an atmosphere.
- Improving them has been a bit of a challenge though, as typically researchers only get “before” and “after” pictures of when the heat shield completes its job of helping a spacecraft land safely back on Earth.
- Falling apart is also a major part of what a heat shield does.
- Fraser talks about how heat shields could help save reuseable rockets.