Benefits and Impacts Obsolescence Reduction Risk Reduction Safety Improvement Cost Reduction

1. Spray-on-Polyimide Foam Insulation Area(s) of Significant Benefit Safety Performance Sustainability Operations Infrastructure • Description • Feasibility study of cryogenic insulations for external fuel tanks. • Develop a spray-on-polyimide foam insulation that can be applied to the space shuttle and/or shuttle external fuel tank which exhibits excellent mechanical and thermal properties at extreme temperatures. • Develop a process to spray polyimide foam to the interior of the fuel tank and allow the removal of most external insulation. • Technologies and Capabilities • Langley has expertise in the synthesis, manufacturing and testing of polyimide foams. • Sprayed polyimide insulation will significantly improve the thermal and mechanical properties of the foam. • Validation will occur with the fabrication of a spray-on-polyimide foam specimen which meets 90% of the current external tank properties. • NASA Langley will also partner with other NASA centers, private industry and universities to enhance our capabilities. Benefits and Impacts Obsolescence Reduction Risk Reduction Safety Improvement Cost Reduction Process Improvement Other(Ultra-High Operations Improvement Reliability) Performance Enhancement • POC, Cost, Schedule and Maturity • TRL 3 Cryogenic Insulation: 001 • POC: Erik Weiser (757)864-9580 • High Temperature fully reusable cryogenic foam that will not popcorn off the ET or other future cryogenic tanks • Reduction in Criticality 1 Failure Rate of 1%

2. Spray-on-Polyimide Foam Insulation • Total Project Costs: $ 7.5M • Feasibility: $ 0.3M • Formulation: $ 1.4M • Implementation: $ 5.8M • Project Submitted By: Erik S. Weiser, Brian J. Jensen and Roberto J. Cano • Note: Supplemental Information attached in MS Word document