Whereas the concept for shielding astronauts and their space vehicles from the extremes of reentry heat for the first vehicles in space, Mercury and Apollo, was "overkill" assurance, an excess of ablatable fiberglass and resin to insure safety - for the envisaged Space Transportation System, the designation "Space Shuttle" described the objective - a quick turnaround, with minimum refurbishment of primary subsystems. To insulate the Orbiter from the searing heat of reentry, the idealized solution is a "vacuum", which blocks all heat transference.
Whereas the concept for shielding astronauts and their space vehicles from the extremes of reentry heat for the first vehicles in space, Mercury and Apollo, was "overkill" assurance, an excess of ablatable fiberglass and resin to insure safety - for the envisaged Space Transportation System, the designation "Space Shuttle" described the objective - a quick turnaround, with minimum refurbishment of primary subsystems. To insulate the Orbiter from the searing heat of reentry, the idealized solution is a "vacuum", which blocks all heat transference.
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