Is Dream Chaser’s Heat Shield Any Better Than The Space Shuttles?

When reentering the Earth’s atmosphere, different spacecraft typically experience temperatures around 3000 degrees Fahrenheit or 1650 degrees Celcius. This immense heat along with other forces make this part of the mission by far one of the most complex and dangerous. Decades ago the Space Shuttle changed how we accessed space by implementing a large spaceplane that could be reused.

One of the core pieces in this process was its heat shield which consisted of tens of thousands of individual and specific tiles. Unfortunately, this method was far from perfect and caused multiple problems including significant safety concerns along with time delays. Focusing on today’s technology, Sierra Space is working on a next-generation spaceplane named Dream Chaser which is scheduled to launch for the first time later this year.

While Dream Chaser has different goals and constraints, the two spaceplanes share a lot of similarities. This includes a heat shield with thousands of individual tiles that Sierra Space is confident is a significant improvement from the past Shuttle design. Here I will go more in-depth into the problem with the Space Shuttles’ thermal protection, how exactly Dream Chaser compares, why this is important for the future, and more.

Credit:

Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Space Shuttle TPS
3:00 - Dream Chaser Changes

[WWeronko]

I have to wonder whatever happened to the much lauded heat shield technology for the X-33 reusable launch vehicle research project that NASA and Lockheed carried out from 1996-2001. The metallic heat shield panel made of Inconel and titanium, would lock together with others to form an armor layer on the vehicle. The metallic shield was deemed a viable alternative to ablative shields or ceramic tiles. When the X-33 was canceled so was the metallic tile development. I would have hoped SpaceX and / or SRC would have at least looked at the technology.

[beavismount]

TUFROC can be pronounced at 'Tough Rock.' Always glad to see something about Dream Chaser!

[neilhaas]

I liked the space shuttle was fascinating. How the space shuttle went into space many times until Dream Chaser came along.

[beenflying]

Thank you. I'm excited to see this fly.

[generalrendar]

I'm the most excited for this space vehicle launch this year. Starship is cool, but that suicide burn makes me nervous.

[TimothyLipinski]

Great video ! After the Test Flight and the six contracted cargo flights of Dream Chaser we may see the Crew Dream Chaser launch to the LEO Commercial Space Station (CSS), the same orbit that Apollo used to launch to the moon ! The Dream Chaser can abort a launch on the launch pad all the way to Abort to Orbit. The Russians just "Aborted" while on the ISS and had a new capsule sent to take them home later. Timothy Lipinski

[ParameterGrenze]

„young efficient college students in the summer“ ?! Those tiles were placed by student summer jobs?

[vernepavreal]

Thanks again for the content and clear speech
One question are these tiles also at risk from rain events on return I understand the shuttle was very sensitive to rain on its return it got delayed several times
Trying to avoid The wet
Cheers

[frankmcgowan]

IT DOES NOT MATTER!!! Dream chaser will not be strapped to a cryogenic fuel tank that can shed big chunks of ice to impact its tiles.

In the worst case, Dreamchaser's tile skin will be as good as the Shuttle's but will not be struck by chunks of ice.

[mathiaslist]

doubt that the new tiles will be so much better ...

[doolittlegeorge]

*"Space Shuttle was a production item"* so was greatly improved upon over decades of flight time.

[maninifarmer]

Not being a rocket scientist. Why does it take so many tiles, can’t they be made larger?

[BPJJohn]

Well there's less of them so that's a good start.

[jamesp]

They heat shield for the shuttle was fine. The problem with it was that ice/FOAM could come off the ET and damage it. Really excited to see the dream chaser live that Dynamic Soaring life

[Papershields]

I think it’s good to remind everybody that on several occasions the shuttle tiles took significant damage that the engineers thought would destroy the orbiter. She flew back every time and was readily repaired and reflown no problem. STS-107 happened because of a failure in the carbon-carbon leading edge, NOT the tiles.

By the end of the program the tile issues had been worked out and each worker was doing a lot more than “1 tile a week” as the video dubiously claims…

[rays]

Since the title of your YouTube video ends with a question mark, the answer to your question is no (Betteridge's Law of Headlines).

We won't know how good the tiles are on Dream Chaser until that vehicle flies 25 successful entry descent and landings (EDLs) like some of the Space Shuttles accomplished.

NASA launched the Space Shuttle 135 times and 133 times the Orbiter landed successfully. Those rigidized ceramic fiber tiles performed exactly as designed in protecting the Orbiter's aluminum fuselage from overheating. Those tiles were not factors in the two shuttle accidents.

Side note: My lab developed and tested space shuttle tiles during the early design phases of the shuttle program (1970-71).

[veryunusual]

I just can't wait for this,
Go dreamchaser👍👍👍💪💪💪🧑‍🚀