Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology Nears Maturity

Monday, July 30, 2018 - 14:30 in Astronomy & Space

This blog post originated in the 2017 Science Mission Directorate Technology Highlights Report (33 MB PDF). Technology Development 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. The HEEET material 3-D weaving process. The dual-layer HEEET TPS architecture consists of a high-density, all-carbon layer designed to be exposed to the extreme environments of entry. A lower-density insulating layer, composed of blended carbon and phenolic yarns, is located below the all-carbon layer and is...

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