[ad_1]
NASA has reportedly developed and tested an umbrella-type heat shield that could help future space missions provide larger payloads than currently available.
The US space agency reported in a statement that it tested the Adaptable Deployable Entry Placement technology, as well as two other technology demonstration payloads in New Mexico earlier this week. NASA claims that the heat shield was developed by the Ames Research Center and that its umbrella-type designs could be used for "planetary landing and return sample missions".
–
–
"NASA's deployable adaptive investment technology, or ADEPT, is not an ordinary umbrella," the space agency said in a statement. "ADEPT is a foldable device that opens up to form a round, rigid thermal shield called aeroshell.This revolutionary technology could create a heat shield in a rocket larger in diameter than the rocket itself.
"Aeroshells slows spacecraft at the entrance and protects them from the heat." ADEPT could be key to future NASA missions that require very large aeroshells to protect spacecraft on the surface of other planets .
In the 15-minute test, the ADEPT was subjected to speeds of approximately 300 km / h to observe the deployment, aerodynamics and stability of the shield as it enters the atmosphere and falls on the surface.
In terms of the next step, NASA plans to put the heat shield at orbital speeds of around 17,000 mph to support Venus, Mars, or Titan technology and bring lunar samples back to Earth.
The space agency said it also tested the Suborbital Flight Environment Monitor and Autonomous Flight Termination System.
Source link
