Heatshield for extreme entry environment technology nears maturity
Tuesday, July 31, 2018 - 10:11
in Astronomy & Space
Over the past four years, NASA's Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) Project has been maturing a novel, three-dimensional, woven Thermal Protection System (TPS) technology for science missions recommended in the Planetary Science Decadal Survey. These missions—Venus probes and landers, Saturn and Uranus probes, and sample return missions to comets and asteroids—will require protection from intense atmospheric heating to reach their destinations. The off-the-shelf TPS product NASA employed on its previous mission to Venus is no longer available, but the technology resulting from the HEEET Project has resulted in an improved solution.