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    The Descent Stage of The

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    Pratik Walimbe
    Kapton is a material commonly used for thermal insulation on spacecraft. It was used on the descent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module and helped insulate NASA's New Horizons spacecraft during its long journey to Pluto. Kapton is also used for wire insulation on the space shuttle and as a plastic support for solar sails, though it can break down over time. The James Webb Space Telescope and International Space Station have also utilized Kapton for thermal insulation and temporary repairs.

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    The Descent Stage of The

    Uploaded by

    Pratik Walimbe
    12 views1 page
    Kapton is a material commonly used for thermal insulation on spacecraft. It was used on the descent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module and helped insulate NASA's New Horizons spacecraft during its long journey to Pluto. Kapton is also used for wire insulation on the space shuttle and as a plastic support for solar sails, though it can break down over time. The James Webb Space Telescope and International Space Station have also utilized Kapton for thermal insulation and temporary repairs.

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    Kapton is a material commonly used for thermal insulation on spacecraft. It was used on the descent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module and helped insulate NASA's New Horizons spacecraft during its long journey to Pluto. Kapton is also used for wire insulation on the space shuttle and as a plastic support for solar sails, though it can break down over time. The James Webb Space Telescope and International Space Station have also utilized Kapton for thermal insulation and temporary repairs.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    12 views1 page

    The Descent Stage of The

    Uploaded by

    Pratik Walimbe
    Kapton is a material commonly used for thermal insulation on spacecraft. It was used on the descent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module and helped insulate NASA's New Horizons spacecraft during its long journey to Pluto. Kapton is also used for wire insulation on the space shuttle and as a plastic support for solar sails, though it can break down over time. The James Webb Space Telescope and International Space Station have also utilized Kapton for thermal insulation and temporary repairs.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    The descent stage of the Apollo Lunar Module, and the bottom of the ascent stage surrounding the

    ascent engine, were covered in blankets of aluminized Kapton foil to provide thermal insulation.
    During the return journey from the Moon, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong commented that during
    the launch of the Lunar Module ascent stage, he could see "Kapton and other parts on the LM
    staging scattering all around the area for great distances." [7]
    According to a NASA internal report, space shuttle "wires were coated with an insulator known as
    Kapton that tended to break down over time, causing short circuits and, potentially,
    fires."[8] The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory has considered Kapton as a good plastic support
    for solar sails because of its long duration in the space environment.[9]
    NASA's New Horizons spacecraft used Kapton in an innovative "Thermos bottle" insulation design to
    keep the craft operating between 10–30 °C (50–86 °F) throughout its more than nine-year, 3 billion
    mile journey to rendezvous with the dwarf planet Pluto on July 14, 2015.[10] The main body is covered
    in lightweight, gold-colored, multilayered thermal insulation which holds in heat from operating
    electronics to keep the spacecraft warm. The thermal blanketing–18 layers of Dacron mesh cloth
    sandwiched between aluminized Mylar and Kapton film–also helped to protect the craft from
    micrometeorites.[11]
    The sunshield of the James Webb Space Telescope is also made of aluminized Kapton.[12]
    The crew aboard the International Space Station used Kapton tape to temporarily repair a slow leak
    in a Soyuz spacecraft attached to the Russian segment of the orbital complex in August, 2018.[13]

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