Abstract: A thermal protection system suitable as a heat shield for a space vehicle includes a flexible insulation mat that is adhesively bonded onto the outer skin of the space vehicle, a cover layer made of at least one ply of a ceramic fiber composite material secured onto the insulation mat, and a coating of an inorganic material applied onto an outer surface of the ceramic cover layer. The cover layer is secured to the insulation mat by adhesive bonding, stitching with ceramic threads or the like, or by a snap fastener button connection. The ceramic fiber composite materials of the cover layer include inorganic fibers which are preferably oxides, carbides or mixtures thereof embedded in a matrix of the same compositional components, whereby the components can be selected appropriately depending on the requirements of the particular application.

Abstract: Very thin polymer/MOC film, on the order of 500A to 1000A thick, is prepared by dissolving both the polymer and the MOC sequentially in the same solvent to obtain an emulsion consisting of a discontinuous phase of finite globules of the MOC solution dispersed in a continuous phase of the polymer solution, then partially evaporating the solvent from a layer of the emulsion, and finally subjecting the resultant polymer/MOC layer, while the solvent continues to evaporate, to a controlled treatment permitting attainment of a desired arrangement of the MOC phase in and throughout the film, depending on the specific film properties sought to be achieved, while the polymer crystallizes. The treatment may be a drawing operation or, if the metal component of the MOC is magnetic, the application of a magnetic field either parallel or perpendicular to the plane of the layer.