A large inflatable heat shield developed by NASA’s Space Technology Program has successfully survived a trip through Earth’s atmosphere while travelling at hypersonic speeds up to 7,600 mph. The ...

NASA successfully tested an inflatable heat shield prototype Monday (July 23), a technology that could one day be used for future space exploration missions, including landing humans on Mars, its ...

NASA said it had successfully tested an inflatable heat shield designed to slow and protect spacecraft as they blast through the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. The 1,400lb, Inflatable Re-entry ...

NASA said the LOFTID test of an inflatable heat shield, seen here after recovery form the Pacific, was a success. Credit: NASA/Greg Swanson WASHINGTON — The success of a NASA project last year to ...

When a large experimental heat shield inflated in space and faced the brutal reentry of Earth's atmosphere last week, the aeroshell survived — and NASA officials have deemed it a "huge success." When ...

HOT AIR: This weekend NASA will test a large, inflatable heat shield aboard a suborbital rocket launched from the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle ...

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 ...

The path for humans to Mars could be paved by University at Buffalo students. A team of five UB student engineers developed plans for a massive inflatable heat shield designed to protect spacecraft – ...

Good news for wannabe astronauts everywhere: NASA has developed a new heat shield concept that, instead of using the usual thermal tiles, is inflatable. They tested it successfully in a launch from ...

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The path for humans to Mars could be paved by University at Buffalo students. A team of five UB student engineers developed plans for a massive inflatable heat shield designed to ...