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UPHAM, NM – NASA technology designed to protect spacecraft from heat and pressure as they enter a planet's atmosphere will be launched from Spaceport America, New Mexico as part of the test .
NASA announced Friday that the system will be on board a suborbital rocket launched on September 12 by UP Aerospace. Once the rocket reaches the space, the umbrella-shaped shield will unfold.
The shield is made from woven carbon fabric and supported by semi-rigid ribs. NASA says it would allow exploratory spacecraft larger than the Curiosity rover to successfully land on other planets in the solar system.
The shield was designed and built by NASA's Ames Research Center in California.
As part of the launch, NASA will also test other launcher technologies and measure the internal environment of suborbital vehicles carrying experiments.
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