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[i]"The heat shield we put to the test during Orion's flight test last December met every expectation we had and gave us a tremendous amount of data on its thermal and mechanical performance," said Mark Kirasich, Acting Orion Program Manager. "But the process of building the heat shield as a single piece for that flight also gave us insight into how we could improve the way we build this essential element of the spacecraft." ...the [EFT-1] heat shield was composed of a titanium skeleton and carbon fiber skin that gave the crew module its circular shape on the bottom and provided structural support, on top of which a fiberglass-phenolic honeycomb structure was placed. The honeycomb structure had 320,000 tiny cells that were individually filled by hand with an ablative material called Avcoat designed to wear away as Orion returned to Earth through the atmosphere. During the labor-intensive process, each individual cell was filled by hand as part of a serial process, cured in a large oven, X-rayed and then robotically machined to meet precise thickness requirements. However, during the manufacture of the heat shield for Orion's flight test, engineers determined that the strength of the Avcoat/honeycomb structure was below expectations. While analysis showed, and the flight proved, that the heat shield would work for the test, the EM-1 Orion will experience colder temperatures in space and hotter temperatures upon reentry, requiring a stronger heat shield. Through lessons and data obtained from building and flying the heat shield, the team was able to make a design update for the Avcoat block design that will meet the EM-1 strength requirements. It is also expected to provide a cost savings and shorten the current heat shield manufacturing timeline by about two months.[/i]
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