S&T student helping to develop thermal curtains

With temperatures in Rolla well below freezing and the winds gusting, thermal curtains sound like a pretty good idea. Except this isn't being designed for your average window or to guard you from a wicked winter - it's to protect B-52 Stratofortress aircrews from a nuclear attack's blinding light.

S&T senior Jennifer Hoffman (pictured right), an engineering intern with Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, is part of a team that's been developing a prototype thermal curtain that's reflective on the outside and rubberized on the inside.The prototypes are expected to be ready this month for testing, with the final versions to be completed by October 2009.

(U.S. Air Force photo/Margo Wright)