Sistem perlindungan termal Pesawat Ulang Alik atau Space Shuttle thermal protection system (TPS) adalah penghalang yang melindungi Space Shuttle Orbiter selama membakar 1.650°C (3.000°F) panas masuk kembali atmosfer. Tujuan kedua adalah untuk melindungi dari panas dan dingin ruang angkasa sementara di orbit.
Referensi
”When the Space Shuttle finally flies”, article written by Rick Gore. National Geographic (pp.316–347. Vol. 159, No. 3. March 1981).
Space Shuttle Operator's Manual, by Kerry Mark Joels and Greg Kennedy (Ballantine Books, 1982).
The Voyages of Columbia: The First True Spaceship, by Richard S. Lewis (Columbia University Press, 1984).
A Space Shuttle Chronology, by John F. Guilmartin and John Mauer (NASA Johnson Space Center, 1988).
Space Shuttle: The Quest Continues, by George Forres (Ian Allen, 1989).
Information Summaries: Countdown! NASA Launch Vehicles and Facilities, (NASA PMS 018-B (KSC), October 1991).
Space Shuttle: The History of Developing the National Space Transportation System, by Dennis Jenkins (Walsworth Publishing Company, 1996).
U.S. Human Spaceflight: A Record of Achievement, 1961-1998. NASA - Monographs in Aerospace History No. 9, July 1998.