[FPSPACE] Chinese heat shields

[Brian Harvey]

The FSW series of recoverable satellites used a non-ablative carbon 
composite type material called XF developed in the late 1960s/early 
1970s.  The 'wooden' heat shields story first appeared in the now 
defunct Space Flight News in 1988.  There is no reference to the use of 
wood in the official Chinese histories.  When the FSW reentry problem 
developed in 1993, some western media referred to the heat shield as 
made of 'wooden planks'.  It is possible that the 'wood' story 
originated in a poor translation.


Brian Harvey