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Kevin Rusnak Profile picture
Kevin Rusnak
@aerohistorian
Chief Historian at Air Force Life Cycle Mgmt Center, formerly at AF Research Lab, NASA Johnson Space Center; History of aerospace R&D. Opinions are my own.
Nov 17, 2021 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Question was about tungsten for reentry vehicle heat shields & @AFResearchLab 1960s Aerothermodynamic/elastic Structural Systems Environmental Test (ASSET) program, intended as low-cost testing/eval of thermal protection/hot structures using Thor rocket & subscale glider 1/5 Image 2/5 Tungsten characteristics for very hi temp apps were virtually unknown in 1961 when ASSET started b/c very little need for 4000 degF matls (yet). What they did know: tungsten couldn't be made in flat sheets or welded & oxidized rapidly above 2000F, thus bad for TPS tiles
Jun 6, 2020 • 30 tweets • 13 min read
1/ 54 years ago today, #Gemini 9 #astronaut Gene Cernan was in trouble.
In space.
Alone.
In the dark.
No one could hear him.
His heart raced at 180 beats per minute.
His breathing labored.
His skin so flushed that he looked sunburnt...
@AFResearchLab @pilliarscreatio 2/ Sweat poured down his face & into his eyes.
His visor fogged over so badly that he couldn't see anyway.
His back was even hotter than the rest of him, meaning only one thing: his space suit was badly torn.

Cernan called it the “spacewalk from hell.”