PICA-System Must Endure Extreme Heat From Returning Lunar Missions

It's an problem guaranteed to involve a lot of hot air... and NASA believes Boeing is best able to solve it. On Monday, the space agency announced it has selected the Chicago-based aerospace manufacturer to support the design and development of the heat shield on its next-generation Orion crew exploration vehicle.

The 16-month contract has a maximum value of approximately $14 million, according to a NASA release. The shield will be designed to protect the Orion capsule and its crew from the extreme heat generated during reentry into earth's atmosphere, after both earth-orbital missions as well as those returning from the moon.

According to NASA, when returning from missions to the station Orion will re-enter at speeds similar to those experienced by the space shuttle -- 16,700 miles an hour. Returning from the moon, however, Orion will reenter the atmosphere at speeds of about 25,000 miles an hour -- and experience heating about five times as extreme as missions returning from the station.

NASA's Constellation Program is developing Orion as NASA's primary vehicle for future human space exploration. Orion will carry astronauts to the station by 2014, with a goal of landing astronauts on the moon no later than 2020.

The present Phase II contract with Boeing is a continuation of an earlier Phase I NASA effort that evaluated phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA), as well as four other candidate materials using extensive testing and analysis. Boeing has been selected to provide PICA, a proprietary material manufactured by its subcontractor, Fiber Materials Inc. of Biddeford, ME for continued testing and evaluation.

While certainly an important contract, being selected to develop Orion's heat shield may be seen as something of a consolation prize for Boeing.

As Aero-News reported last month, Lockheed Martin was selected over a joint-venture between Boeing and Northrop Grumman  to build the Orion space vehicle.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/orion