PICA
Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) family of materials was used for Stardust, Mars Science Laboratory, OSIRIS REx, and Mars 2020 thermal protection systems. Available materials include flight-heritage PICA as well as design specific, tailored materials, such as Phenolic Impregnated Felt for near net shaped components, joint and gap fill applications, and PICA variants with tailored constituents for desired performance and mass. Low-density ablative material may be designed into monolithic and multi-tile Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) for planetary entry and re-entry heat shield applications. The material system is tailored to leverage heritage applications and enabling a wider range of capabilities and mission environments.
Product Features:
- Available in block materials, machined tiles, and net-shaped TPS components
- Net-shaped components are engineered to meet component design and fiber-oriented for optimal performance
- PICA surface densification offers improved bonding characteristics and protection against transit damage, handling damage, and in-flight object damage
Product Benefits:
- High TRL/MRL of PICA TPS material enables design and performance modeling for faster delivery of TPS system
- PICA materials can withstand heating rates greater than 1000 W/cm2 during entry/descent
- PICA gap filling technology enables wider range of missions than RTV elastomer gap fill materials at reduced TPS areal mass
Typical Applications:
- Tiled PICA heatshields are used in several Mars entry missions, Earth re-entry, Titan entry, and other potential planetary applications
- Sample return capsules (SRCs) use single-piece PICA TPS for scientific exploration missions, such as Stardust and OSIRIS Rex
Experience / Nasa Missions
- Stardust
- Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle*
- Mars Science Laboratory
- OSIRIS REx
- Mars 2020
- Dragonfly**
- Mars Sample Return**
*Development TPS only
**Current (2022) TPS fabrication contracts in progress for future NASA launches
NASA Multi-mission TPS Contract
- Link (coming soon)
