NASA tests inflatable heat shield
Posted: Wed, Aug 19, 2009, 6:37 AM ET (1037 GMT)
A NASA suborbital rocket tested Monday an inflatable heat shield that could reduce the weight of future reentry capsules. The Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE) was flown on a Black Brant 9 suborbital rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Monday morning. The 3-meter inflatable heat shield deployed in 90 seconds after the payload reached an altitude of about 200 kilometers. NASA officials said the shield worked as planned during its descent through the atmosphere to splashdown in the Atlantic. Inflatable heat shields could be used on future Mars missions, where mass is at a premium
A NASA suborbital rocket tested Monday an inflatable heat shield that could reduce the weight of future reentry capsules. The Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE) was flown on a Black Brant 9 suborbital rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Monday morning. The 3-meter inflatable heat shield deployed in 90 seconds after the payload reached an altitude of about 200 kilometers. NASA officials said the shield worked as planned during its descent through the atmosphere to splashdown in the Atlantic. Inflatable heat shields could be used on future Mars missions, where mass is at a premium
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, February 9
Return to Moon Base Gingrich
The Economist — 12:50 pm ET (1750 GMT) Rockot to launch two Sentinel satellites
ESA — 12:40 pm ET (1740 GMT) Legacy of alumna astronaut continues past death
Purdue Univ. Exponent — 12:38 pm ET (1738 GMT) Spectra Systems Corporation Products on Their Way to Mars
PR Newswire — 12:38 pm ET (1738 GMT) Astronomy team that includes UCLA finance professor discovers nearby dwarf galaxy
UCLA — 12:30 pm ET (1730 GMT) |