[Raquel Villanueva] Did you know that robots
wear blankets in space?
Let's take a look at how they're sewn together.
[Mark Duran] We call this the ‘Shield Shop’
because the thermal control blanket
shields the spacecraft against extreme hot
and cold temperatures of outer space.
[Raquel] The spacecraft that needs shielding,
Europa Clipper.
It's set to travel nearly 2 billion miles
to study Jupiter's moon Europa.
The goal?
To find out if there's water beneath the icy surface
and if it could support life.
[Mark] The Europa Clipper mission is a unique mission.
It has an especially harsh environment
of high radiation
and we need to ground a thermal
We're using a special material
that is easily groundable.
[Raquel] Materials, including Kapton and Mylar.
These are lightweight and heat resistant.
[Mark] I don't know if you've ever seen
those emergency blankets?
It's the same principle
where you're trying to maintain heat.
What it's doing is it's
making it difficult for heat to escape.
[Raquel] Clipper’s blanket will have 22 layers,
but it's only about a quarter of an inch thick.
[Mark] A lot of people think that these are so delicate,
but they're not really delicate.
There's a lot of testing
to make certain that the materials hold up.
Morgan Betsill I'm kind of a spacecraft seamstress,
so just like they have to fit particular bodies,
I have to fit particular shapes.
I make cozy winter jackets
that keep them nice and warm.
The radiator was really tricky.
Something that's like a simple cube
is pretty easy.
But when you start getting into really
crazy geometries,
you kind of have to fit it on there
a few times before it's going to be perfect.
I would call this my sketchbook.
It's easier to draw something out on a small scale
instead of drawing the whole thing out
and then realizing a measurement is wrong.
So it's helpful to have a drawing
and then notes that you can see all in one spot.
[Mark] Each blanket either gets sewn together
or it's laced together.
We're going to be delivering
almost 300 thermal blankets
to the Europa Clipper project,
and at the end it's just like
one giant blanket.
[Raquel] Europa Clipper will continue
to be assembled at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in preparation for launch in 2024.
Thank you for watching Spacecraft Makers.