General Question

asmonet's avatar

What material is this? (NASA Stuff)

Asked by asmonet (21455points) January 13th, 2009

On lots of shuttles, space stations, suits, and even the Hubble Space Telescope there is this shiny tin foil looking crinkly stuff, I’m just wondering if any of you know what it’s called, specifically?

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

12 Answers

asmonet's avatar

Holy crap. Everyone knows except me. Three people are composing.

/Shamed.

Grisson's avatar

It’s called ‘shiny tin-foil crinkly stuff’.
Nah, seriously it’s foil insulation. It reflects radiant heat as well as having insulation within.
The problem with space is that when the sun shines on a surface and it is turned into heat, there’s no way to disappate the heat. So the best approach is to reflect the sunlight in the first place.
Underneath is insulation so that the extreme cold (when the sun’s not shining on the surface) doesn’t suck the existing heat right out.

Harp's avatar

It’s called “double aluminized mylar” (or DAM). Mylar is a very tough polyester film. The ultra-thin deposit of aluminum makes it reflect heat extremely well.

asmonet's avatar

Yay! I lurve you all! :)

I wish I could lurve shi twice, just because his avatar was next to his answer. Just sayin’.

shilolo's avatar

Yeah, like I’m about to prepare for a moon landing… I wish

asmonet's avatar

We can make pretend.

SoapChef's avatar

I think it is the same stuff they used to make those space blankets for survival/hiking/camping out of.

Harp's avatar

Right. The DAM is the shiny, crinkly film (AKA “Space Blankets”). The Multi-layer insulating foil is that plus a fabric backing.

robmandu's avatar

Unrelated: Wikipedia explains…

The McLaren F1’s engine compartment contains the mid-mounted BMW S70/2 engine and uses gold foil as a heat shield in the exhaust compartment.

Knotmyday's avatar

It’s actually anti-mind-reading material. I’d tell you how it works, but it’s technical.

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