Re: Dummies question - gap filler


"John Smith" <johnNOSPAMsmith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:G%pIe.20308$Oe4.16102@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "C.P Kurz" <cpkXSPAM@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:dct9h7$r0f$00$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> >> Thanks but... the filler was several inches in length and a few
> >> milimeters thick which, to me, would leave a gap between the two tiles
it
> >> was inbetween. Doesn't that now leave a gap in the heat-shield or do
the
> >> tiles expand when heated? I thought having no gaps, not even minute
ones,
> >> was vital?
> >
> > What I heard is that gaps are allowed and needed. The gap fillers have
no
> > direct heat protection function, but isolate tiles mechanically from the
> > vibrations during ascent. They said the gap fillers are not needed
during
> > reentry.
> >
> >
> > - Carsten
> >
> >
>
> I just wondered whether it was something like the Concorde - designed to
> expland at high temperatures
>

To a certain extent yes.

Remember the tiles end up absorbing a fair amount of the re-entry heat and
then radiating it back out, in all directions, including inward. Evidently
it gets a bit toasting inside the cockpit an hour or so after touchdown.

>


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