Science
NASA tests new heat shield materials on cargo mission debris
The KREPE-3 capsules will gather re-entry data on materials that could inform future shields for cargo and crewed spacecraft headed to the Moon and Mars.
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The essentials of this story
- What happened
- NASA is flying 12 experimental capsules on a cargo mission re-entry to test new heat shield materials and designs.
- Who is affected
- The tests affect NASA researchers, partner institutions and future cargo or crewed missions to the Moon, Mars and Titan.
- What changes
- The mission will provide flight data on materials and shapes that could guide the design of lighter, cheaper and more flexible thermal protection systems.
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Sources
- NASA Demonstrates Next-Generation Heat Shield Technologies — NASA primary source