The first (and smallest) torus for the 10-meter aeroshell NASA is developing with ULA, sitting on top of the six-meter LOFTID aeroshell that completed its mission in November 2022. Credit: NASA Space ...

An inflatable spacecraft heat shield the technology could help NASA land astronauts and massive cargo loads on the Red Planet in the late 2030s. Credit: NASA/Greg Swanson To gently land a rocket ship ...

For example, an inflatable heat shield would not add as much to the initial launch mass, and they could be used to safely land components like ULA's Vulcan rocket engines for reuse. The LOFTID ...

Surviving atmospheric re-entry is one of the most demanding challenges a spacecraft has to endure. For a low-Earth orbit re-entry, the temperatures on the spacecraft can peak at 1,600°C, while the ...