NASA successfully tested an inflatable heat shield prototype Monday (July 23), a technology that could one day be used for future space exploration missions, including landing humans on Mars, its ...

When a large experimental heat shield inflated in space and faced the brutal reentry of Earth's atmosphere last week, the aeroshell survived — and NASA officials have deemed it a "huge success." When ...

The first (and smallest) torus for the 10-meter aeroshell NASA is developing with ULA, sitting on top of the six-meter LOFTID aeroshell that completed its mission in November 2022. Credit: NASA Space ...

NASA said the LOFTID test of an inflatable heat shield, seen here after recovery form the Pacific, was a success. Credit: NASA/Greg Swanson WASHINGTON — The success of a NASA project last year to ...

A large inflatable heat shield developed by NASA’s Space Technology Program has successfully survived a trip through Earth’s atmosphere while travelling at hypersonic speeds up to 7,600 mph. The ...

For example, an inflatable heat shield would not add as much to the initial launch mass, and they could be used to safely land components like ULA's Vulcan rocket engines for reuse. The LOFTID ...