The work of an Irish technology company has been described as "mission critical" to next week's launch by the European Space Agency of its solar orbiter which is designed to examine the sun in the coming years.
The shield has been put together by the company, which has offices in Tipperary and Dublin, using grit as well as a form of charred animal bone to cover titanium foil. This is then used in turn to cover most of the solar orbiter and acts as a method of preventing the craft from getting too hot. Contact was made with the ESA and "we were in the right place at the right time and our technology hit all of the targets and specifications that they needed," he said.
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Turf for the rocket