The total area of heat-resistant tiles exceeded twenty square meters. Mai Dong lacked professional inspection tools such as an ultrasonic fault detector or an X-ray detector. All she could rely on was her eyes.
"The heat corrosion is very severe." Mai Dong reached out her hand and gently caressed the black surface. "The surface is very rough and it looks a little like plastic."
"That's the phenolic impregnated carbon ablator. Its fixing agent is phenol formaldehyde which is also known as Bakelite," Tomcat explained. "So it's very normal to look like plastic. Some car tires are made of this material."
The Eagle lander had experienced heating from adiabatic compression during its first atmospheric entry. The 2000°C temperatures evaporated and sublimed the heat-resistant tiles, causing the surface to look nothing like new. It was akin to a patient with severe burn injuries. There wasn't an inch of skin that remained intact.
