Efficient Thermal Insulation System for Space Transportation

Triton Systems, Inc. and its partners propose to develop and demonstrate new low thermal conductivity materials for use as reusable thermal insulation at temperatures approaching 1,700°C. During Phase I, Triton will design, model, and demonstrate a flexible insulation solution for space transport that is application to temperatures reaching 1700°C.  Using physics-based modeling, we will evaluate materials and structures to minimize solid and gas conduction, and radiative transport with the overall of minimizing total heat transport using the lowest possible weight and volume of insulation.  We will fabricate the designed insulation and evaluate its performance against the model predictions to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology.  In Phase II, we will produce a prototype manufacturing system to allow the fabrication of the flexible, low thermal conductivity material in the required form factor (near-net-shape) with the required physical/thermal properties. Further materials characterization will be performed to allow comparison to current materials utilized for the application and production will be scaled up to support fabrication of larger test articles.