TPS

After reentry & landing, how long does it take the white ( cooler) and
black (hotter) TPS tiles to cool so they maight be safely touched?

JOE HECHT wrote:
After reentry & landing, how long does it take the white ( cooler) and
black (hotter) TPS tiles to cool so they maight be safely touched?

They can be touched as soon as the shuttle lands. The tiles are
designed to radiate the heat very quickly. That's why they're black,
black radiates heat the most effectively. I remember in high school one
of my teachers got his hands on some old tile. He held it on one side
and put a blow torch on the other. You could see the tile get red hot
while he still held it. I'm sure it was cool to the touch fairly
quickly after removing the heat source.

wrote:

JOE HECHT wrote:

After reentry & landing, how long does it take the white ( cooler) and
black (hotter) TPS tiles to cool so they maight be safely touched?

They can be touched as soon as the shuttle lands. The tiles are
designed to radiate the heat very quickly. That's why they're black,
black radiates heat the most effectively. I remember in high school one
of my teachers got his hands on some old tile. He held it on one side
and put a blow torch on the other. You could see the tile get red hot
while he still held it. I'm sure it was cool to the touch fairly
quickly after removing the heat source.

The guides at the KSC launch status auditorium perform this demo
several times per day. After turning off the blow torch they describe
the temperature of the tile material as feeling like a "warm piece of
toast."
--
Andy Williams