{"id":19561,"date":"2015-11-21T01:41:24","date_gmt":"2015-11-20T17:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasas-orion-deep-space-capsule-is-now-officially-a-shiny-object-heres-why\/"},"modified":"2015-11-21T01:41:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-20T17:41:24","slug":"nasas-orion-deep-space-capsule-is-now-officially-a-shiny-object-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasas-orion-deep-space-capsule-is-now-officially-a-shiny-object-heres-why\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Orion deep-space capsule is now officially a shiny object: Here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Orion
An artist\u2019s conception shows NASA\u2019s Orion capsule in flight, with a silvery, metallic-based coating bonded to the capsule\u2019s back shell tiles. (Credit: NASA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NASA has released new artwork that reflects the latest look for its Orion deep-space crew vehicle \u2013 and it\u2019s highly<\/em> reflective.<\/p>\n

Orion\u2019s shiny back shell isn\u2019t just for show: In Thursday\u2019s update, NASA explains that the silvery, metallic-based thermal control coating is designed to reduce heat loss when the spacecraft is pointed toward the dark chill of outer space, and limit high temperatures when it\u2019s exposed to the sun.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re trying to hit this sweet spot because when you\u2019re looking at the sun, you don\u2019t want to get too hot, and then when you\u2019re not looking at the sun and instead in darkness, you don\u2019t want to lose all the heat that the spacecraft generates,\u201d John Kowal, NASA\u2019s thermal protection system lead for Orion, explained in the update.<\/p>\n

The coating should help Orion\u2019s exterior maintain a temperature range between 150 degrees below zero Fahrenheit and 550 degrees above. It will also protect against electrical surface charges in space and during re-entry, NASA said.<\/p>\n

\"Orion
NASA artwork shows Orion during atmospheric re-entry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other changes to the thermal protection system are aimed at improving the performance of the heat shield while reducing Orion\u2019s total mass. An uncrewed prototype went through its first flight test last December. The next test, known as Exploration Mission 1 or EM-1, is due to take place in 2018. That flight will mark the first launch of NASA\u2019s heavy-lift Space Launch System. Orion will take an autonomous three-week trip that\u2019s due to range beyond the moon \u2013 and end with a screaming re-entry at more than 24,500 mph.<\/p>\n

EM-1\u2019s re-entry requires a more robust thermal protection system than the one used for the previous Orion prototype, which explains the design changes. The test in 2018 will set the stage for the first crewed Orion-SLS flight, EM-2, which is targeted for no earlier than 2023. EM-2 may involve a round-the-moon trip and an asteroid rendezvous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An artist\u2019s conception shows NASA\u2019s Orion capsule in flight, with a silvery, metallic-based coating bonded to the capsule\u2019s back shell tiles. (Credit: NASA) NASA has released new artwork that reflects the latest look for its Orion deep-space crew vehicle \u2013 and it\u2019s highly reflective. Orion\u2019s shiny back shell isn\u2019t just for show: In Thursday\u2019s update, NASA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4011,190,640],"class_list":["post-19561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-em-2","tag-nasa","tag-orion"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19561"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19561\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}