What material is this? (NASA Stuff)
Asked by
asmonet (
21445
)
January 13th, 2009
On lots of shuttles, space stations, suits, and even the Hubble Space Telescope there is this shiny tin foil looking crinkly stuff, I’m just wondering if any of you know what it’s called, specifically?
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Holy crap. Everyone knows except me. Three people are composing.
/Shamed.
It’s called ‘shiny tin-foil crinkly stuff’.
Nah, seriously it’s foil insulation. It reflects radiant heat as well as having insulation within.
The problem with space is that when the sun shines on a surface and it is turned into heat, there’s no way to disappate the heat. So the best approach is to reflect the sunlight in the first place.
Underneath is insulation so that the extreme cold (when the sun’s not shining on the surface) doesn’t suck the existing heat right out.
It’s called “double aluminized mylar” (or DAM). Mylar is a very tough polyester film. The ultra-thin deposit of aluminum makes it reflect heat extremely well.
Yay! I lurve you all! :)
I wish I could lurve shi twice, just because his avatar was next to his answer. Just sayin’.
Yeah, like I’m about to prepare for a moon landing… I wish
I think it is the same stuff they used to make those space blankets for survival/hiking/camping out of.
Right. The DAM is the shiny, crinkly film (AKA “Space Blankets”). The Multi-layer insulating foil is that plus a fabric backing.
Unrelated: Wikipedia explains…
The McLaren F1’s engine compartment contains the mid-mounted BMW S70/2 engine and uses gold foil as a heat shield in the exhaust compartment.
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