NextBigFuture

SpaceX Work on New Heat Shield

SpaceX is upgrading Starship’s heat shield with new tiles that are twice as strong as the previous version used during the flight 4 test. SpaceX is adingd an ablative secondary structure behind the ...
Ars Technica

NASA still doesn’t understand root cause of Orion heat shield issue

NASA officials declared the Artemis I mission successful in late 2022, and it’s hard to argue with that assessment. The Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft performed nearly flawlessly on ...
New Atlas

New heat shield to protect next-gen reusable spacecraft during reentry

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Sierra Space Corporation have developed a new heat shield based on venerable 1980s Space Shuttle technology to protect the next generation of reusable spacecraft from ...
Ars Technica

Starship’s heat shield appears to have performed quite well in test

One of the more curious aspects of the 10th flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket on Tuesday was the striking orange discoloration of the second stage. This could be observed on video taken from a buoy ...
NextBigFuture

SpaceX Heat Shield and Starship Mass Production

SpaceX removed about 72 tiles in 18 key locations for Starship Flight 11 and there was no catastrophic failure. This could allow SpaceX to optimize the heat shield and remove 10-20% of tiles over ...
Gizmodo

Orion’s Heat Shield Remains ‘Biggest Open Issue’ Ahead of NASA’s Artemis 2 Mission

NASA is running tests to determine the root cause behind unanticipated variations observed across the heat shield in the wake of the Artemis 1 mission. Reading time 3 minutes NASA is working to ...
Gizmodo

NASA Is Being Weirdly Secretive About What’s Wrong With Orion’s Heat Shield

Engineers have identified the issue with the Orion spacecraft's heat shield, but NASA isn’t revealing the details yet. Reading time 3 minutes NASA finally knows what caused the erosion of the Orion ...
Phys.org

4D images show heat shield damage on spacecraft goes below the surface

Rather than completely burning up when a spacecraft reenters Earth's atmosphere, its heat shield's outer surface is sacrificed to protect the rest of the vehicle. The carbon fibers decompose, ...
Orlando Sentinel

NASA watchdog report: 100+ cracks on heat shield biggest threat to human moon mission

The damage to the Orion capsule from the Artemis I mission is already top of mind for NASA as it works to make the Artemis II mission safe for humans. But a new agency report revealed the extent of ...
SpaceNews

NASA inspector general report highlights issues with Orion heat shield

Technicians inspect the heat shield on the Orion capsule after Artemis 1. The heat shield lost most charred material than expected, but NASA managers said it was not a safety issue. Credit: NASA/Skip ...
The Conversation

NASA’s crew capsule had heat shield issues during Artemis I − an aerospace expert on these critical spacecraft components

Marcos Fernandez Tous does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations ...
SpaceNews

Lockheed Martin Completes Mars Science Laboratory Heatshield For NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has completed production and testing of the heatshield for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL). The heatshield is half of the large and sophisticated two-part aeroshell ...