Hot Space Shuttle Images

Photo: Hot body: These thermal images were taken of space shuttle Discovery on September 11. Temperature data was used to make the color images (middle and bottom), blue being the lowest temperatures and red the highest. Credit: NASA/HYTHIRM team

From Technology Review:

NASA researchers capture thermal images of the shuttle's reentry to design better heat shields.

Researchers at NASA are using a novel thermal-imaging system on board a Navy aircraft to capture images of heat patterns that light up the surface of the space shuttle as it returns through the Earth's atmosphere. The researchers have thus far imaged three shuttle missions and are processing the data to create 3-D surface-temperature maps. The data will enable engineers to design systems to protect future spacecraft from the searing heat--up to 5,500 degrees Celsius--seen during reentry.

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