As I suggested previously in replies to people’s comments it indeed seems to be the case that carbon fiber structures survive re-entry very well and act as a sort of self-heat shield.
> “We did analysis back before Demo-2 and clearly the models don’t deal with the trunk very well,” Steve Stich, NASA commercial crew program manager, said in an interview after a Starliner briefing ahead of that mission’s June 6 launch. He said it’s likely because of the composite materials used in the trunk. “It’s almost like a thermal protection system.”
They seem to be planning to study if they can release the trunk after the de-orbit burn which would result in a mostly-targeted re-entry for the trunk putting it in a known location in the ocean near the re-entry location of the capsule.
> The solution he said NASA and SpaceX are looking at involves changing deorbiting procedures. Currently, the trunk is released before the capsule performs its orbit burn. That means the trunk can remain in orbit for months before making an uncontrolled reentry.
> Instead, Stich said engineers are examining doing the deorbit burn and then releasing the trunk. That would provide more control of where the trunk reenters, ensuring that any debris that survives reentry lands in unpopulated regions.
> “We’re in the process of doing that work right now,” he said. “I would love to have something in place next year if we can, but we’ve got to do all the right analysis. We’ve got make sure that it’s safe for the crew.”
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As I suggested previously in replies to people’s comments it indeed seems to be the case that carbon fiber structures survive re-entry very well and act as a sort of self-heat shield.
> “We did analysis back before Demo-2 and clearly the models don’t deal with the trunk very well,” Steve Stich, NASA commercial crew program manager, said in an interview after a Starliner briefing ahead of that mission’s June 6 launch. He said it’s likely because of the composite materials used in the trunk. “It’s almost like a thermal protection system.”
They seem to be planning to study if they can release the trunk after the de-orbit burn which would result in a mostly-targeted re-entry for the trunk putting it in a known location in the ocean near the re-entry location of the capsule.
> The solution he said NASA and SpaceX are looking at involves changing deorbiting procedures. Currently, the trunk is released before the capsule performs its orbit burn. That means the trunk can remain in orbit for months before making an uncontrolled reentry.
> Instead, Stich said engineers are examining doing the deorbit burn and then releasing the trunk. That would provide more control of where the trunk reenters, ensuring that any debris that survives reentry lands in unpopulated regions.
> “We’re in the process of doing that work right now,” he said. “I would love to have something in place next year if we can, but we’ve got to do all the right analysis. We’ve got make sure that it’s safe for the crew.”
[TL;DR](https://upilink.in/cms/?p=470)
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