[meteorite-list] Soyuz Capsule Flown "Heat Shield"

[Nicholas Gessler]

Hi,

I have several of these.  The ablation and flow lines are interesting, 
especially in the plugs, and well worth having for comparative 
purposes.  However, the flow lines are in a resin coating of the plug 
(which is very light weight), not in metal.  Re-entry speeds of artificial 
satellites are much lower than those of meteorites so we shouldn't expect 
the massive ablation that the latter experience.

I am told that the Chinese simply use wood as a re-entry shield.  Would be 
fun to get ahold of some of this.  But how would we know it is authentic?

Cheers,
Nick

At 11:58 AM 11/9/2004, MARK BOSTICK wrote:
>Hello list,
>
>Possibly of interest to some is these photographs of a "heat shield" from 
>a flown Soyuz spacecraft capsule. I was hoping it would compare more with 
>the heat shield shaped meteorites I have.  However, this item is pretty 
>much just a scorched piece of heat resistant metal attached to a wood 
>block and fiberglass put on the inside side. If you are interested you can 
>view photographs of the disc shaped item at the following link:
>
>http://www.meteoritearticles.com/Soyuz.html
>
>The other day I brought the Rubicon 1 rocket home from the dock.  Without 
>its engines and stripped it still weighs over 300 pounds.  This large 
>object fell out of the sky last August into the Pacific ocean....shortly 
>after takeoff.  Not a meteorite of course, but it was a big piece of metal 
>that fell from the sky.   I learned a valuable lesson we should all 
>memorize the day I brought space capsule and nose cone home.  Space 
>rockets do not fit through doorways. Sorry, no "recovery" photographs as 
>it was raining last week when I moved the item to where it is now.  I will 
>try to take some photographs of the wreckage later.  The nose cone pieces 
>are each about the size of me.
>
>Clear Skies,
>Wichita, Kansas
>Mark Bostick
>www.meteoritearticles.com
>
>
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