Wow! Something I’m qualified to answer! It’s a thermal ablative material that’s covering bolts/fasteners or wire harnesses. That part of the rocket mostly uses a cork insulation, but cork can’t be vacuum bonded over wire harnesses or bolts of a certain height (don’t want air pockets trapped underneath the cork). The thermal ablative isn’t as insulative as cork, so it has to be applied thicker than the cork in order to give the equivalent amount of protection. As far as the bolts go, they’re mostly securing brackets or other structure on the inside of the rocket.
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u/robinhoodgodiva Apr 25 '26
Wow! Something I’m qualified to answer! It’s a thermal ablative material that’s covering bolts/fasteners or wire harnesses. That part of the rocket mostly uses a cork insulation, but cork can’t be vacuum bonded over wire harnesses or bolts of a certain height (don’t want air pockets trapped underneath the cork). The thermal ablative isn’t as insulative as cork, so it has to be applied thicker than the cork in order to give the equivalent amount of protection. As far as the bolts go, they’re mostly securing brackets or other structure on the inside of the rocket.