Toughened Thermal Blanket for Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris Protection

Toughened thermal blankets have been developed that greatly improve protection from hypervelocity micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) impacts. Three types of materials were added to the thermal blanket to enhance its MMOD performance: (1) disrupter layers, near the outside of the blanket to improve breakup of the projectile, (2) standoff layers, in the middle of the blanket to provide an area or gap that the broken-up projectile can expand, and (3) stopper layers, near the back of the blanket where the projectile debris is captured and stopped. Hypervelocity impact tests were performed on candidate toughened thermal blanket configurations at the NASA White Sands Test Facility and at the University of Dayton Research Institute. From these tests the best disrupter materials were found to be beta-cloth and fiberglass fabric. Polyimide open-cell foams provide a light-weight means to increase the blanket thickness and improve MMOD protection. The best stopper material is Spectra™ 1000-952 or Kevlar™ KM2-705. These blankets can be outfitted if so desired with a reliable means to determine the location, depth and extent of MMOD impact damage by incorporating an impact sensitive piezoelectric film.