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The X-38 is a vehicle being developed for crew transfer to support the International
Space Station (ISS). The X-38 was once known as an Experimental Crew Return Vehicle
(XCRV). It is now simply referred to as a Crew Return Vehicle (CRV). Several series
of hypervelocity impact tests have been conducted at the HITF on samples of Thermal
Protection Materials (TPS) for the X-38.
The tests were conducted to determine under what conditions an impact would result
in failure. Three failure modes were identified:
direct penetration of the tile and the underlying aluminum honeycomb
non-penetrating damage sufficient to cause tile damage which would lead to failure by heating during subsequent atmospheric re-entry
non-penetrating damage sufficient to pose a threat while docked to the Space Station.
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