Blog #6-LakeLyn Bagge
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was a once in a lifetime experience, soon I will get to experience it again, which I am so grateful for. Even before the tour, I was extremely overwhelmed by the uncertainty in our universe that I was about to discover. The first place we visited at JPL was the Class 10,000 Clean Room. Only 10,000 particles are allowed to exist within the space. The reason for only a certain amount of particles to live in the area is because they do not want human dust and DNA on the spacecraft they are building when they are trying to explore life on other planets. The new structure that they were making in the Clean Room was for the Mars 2020 Rover. The Mars 2020 mission is to bring back samples to Earth, seeking signs of life, and understanding habitability on Mars. The mission will be launching in July/August of 2020. It is an 8-month journey for the satellite to land the Mars Rover on Mars. It will be landing in February 2021. I noticed on the structure of the satellite, there was gold tin-foil like material covering many instruments. This material was not only on the Mars 2020 Rover but previous satellites and rovers that are used in space before.
One specific question that kept circulating my brain was, what is the gold tin foil on the satellites? I researched this question a little bit more in-depth and stumbled upon some very intriguing facts. At first glance, the gold, shiny material resembles aluminum foil as you would use in the kitchen. After realizing that was not the case, I learned that the tin foil-like equipment is actually called multi-layer insulation or MLI. MLI is a material that is very lightweight and reflective that is assembled in multiple layers. The thickness of the foil depends on what section of the satellite is covered and the amount of protection it needs. MLI is made up of polyester films, which is a type of plastic, that is coated in fragile layers of aluminum. The material and the amount of content on the satellite depends on where the satellite will be orbiting and how much sunlight is exposed to the satellite.
The Multi-Layer Insulation is used on satellites to control thermal heat/energy and protects the instruments that are on the spacecraft since the temperatures in space can be very extreme. The temperatures in space range from -200 to above 300 degrees Fahrenheit. The instruments on the satellite also produce a lot of fo heat, which added to the temperature increase. Another use of the MLI that I learned about is that the material acts as a protection against debris in space. The instruments on-board are very delicate, so any particles or dust that comes from the mission can damage the instruments and sensors. The sun transmits heat on Earth by warming the atmosphere. In space, the impact of radiation is at a much higher heating rate. The main focus is less about the insulation but more about the reflection that the gold foil creates to get the desired temperature.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/servicing/series/cleanroom.html
https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2006/ch_9.html
One specific question that kept circulating my brain was, what is the gold tin foil on the satellites? I researched this question a little bit more in-depth and stumbled upon some very intriguing facts. At first glance, the gold, shiny material resembles aluminum foil as you would use in the kitchen. After realizing that was not the case, I learned that the tin foil-like equipment is actually called multi-layer insulation or MLI. MLI is a material that is very lightweight and reflective that is assembled in multiple layers. The thickness of the foil depends on what section of the satellite is covered and the amount of protection it needs. MLI is made up of polyester films, which is a type of plastic, that is coated in fragile layers of aluminum. The material and the amount of content on the satellite depends on where the satellite will be orbiting and how much sunlight is exposed to the satellite.
The Multi-Layer Insulation is used on satellites to control thermal heat/energy and protects the instruments that are on the spacecraft since the temperatures in space can be very extreme. The temperatures in space range from -200 to above 300 degrees Fahrenheit. The instruments on the satellite also produce a lot of fo heat, which added to the temperature increase. Another use of the MLI that I learned about is that the material acts as a protection against debris in space. The instruments on-board are very delicate, so any particles or dust that comes from the mission can damage the instruments and sensors. The sun transmits heat on Earth by warming the atmosphere. In space, the impact of radiation is at a much higher heating rate. The main focus is less about the insulation but more about the reflection that the gold foil creates to get the desired temperature.
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/servicing/series/cleanroom.html
https://spinoff.nasa.gov/Spinoff2006/ch_9.html
Comments
Post a Comment