Space · Item
Rocket fairing
The nose cone on top of the rocket and its heat shield on re-entry.
In the game
How to get it
At the grid: 24 shell parts set in 8 cement on an aluminium cone (8 sheets), 2 explosives to shed it; on the Moon, 12 maw plates replace the shell parts. Stack it on top of the cockpit.
What it is for
Takes the heat when the rocket comes back through the air: the part with the biggest heat capacity.
Why it exists
Air is a wall at orbital speed: without a shield, the rocket burns.
The same text the game shows in its progress tree and on the item's sheet (I).
How to make it
At the grid: 24 shell parts (top middle and both sides of the middle row), 8 cement (centre), 8 aluminium sheets (bottom corners), 2 explosives (bottom middle). Lunar variant: 12 Maw plates.
How it works
2.6 m, 0.4 t. On re-entry the rocket comes back nose first and the fairing takes the heat; every part has its own heat and wears when it overheats. A rocket coming back from the Moon first captures in low orbit, so it never enters the air too fast.
On the progress path
FU1To the skyMain path
One of the items of the step Rocket parts.
- This stepFU1 · Rocket parts
- NextFU2 · Propellants