NASA successfully tests an inflatable heat shield

Nov. 10 () –

NASA has successfully demonstrated this November 10 on Earth an inflatable aerodynamic decelerator, technology that could one day help humans land on Mars.

This inflatable decelerator was launched into orbit from Vandenberg, California on the Centaur upper stage of an Atlas V rocket, along with the NOAA-operated JPSS-2 weather research satellite. After satellite separation, the Centaur stage and LOFTID continued to fly together until they began to lose altitude. That’s when the decelerator inflated and separated to initiate a ballistic reentry.

Go #LOFTID! See our inflatable heat shield @NASA_Technology test separate from its @ulalaunch Centaur upper stage rocket. Watch live through splashdown: https://t.co/BgScjbdJW6

How LOFTID might help land future astronauts on Mars: https://t.co/eDRGA9TbKf pic.twitter.com/1y9Tf34KtJ

— NASA (@NASA) November 10, 2022

According to the team’s predictions, LOFTID would have decreased its speed to Mach 0.7, from a maximum speed of Mach 29 at the time of re-entry into the atmosphere. In the last stretch, she released a data module as well as a parachute until splashing down in the Pacific, near Hawaii, where the prototype was recovered, NASA reported.

Moments years in the making for the team at @NASA_Langley: See the #LOFTID @NASA_Technology demonstration splash down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. The data from this inflatable heat shield test will help us land more massive missions, and explore farther. pic.twitter.com/PzARsfhC9P

— NASA (@NASA) November 10, 2022

Since NASA’s inception in 1958, the agency has relied heavily on rigid aeroshells (a protective shell made up of a heat shield and a backshell), parachutes, and retropropulsion (rockets) to slow people, vehicles, and space hardware. during descent and landing operations.

After more than a decade of hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (HIAD) technology development, including two suborbital flight tests, the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) has been the next step . This 6-meter-diameter re-entry vehicle has become the largest flat-body heat shield to ever traverse atmospheric entry.

When a spacecraft enters the atmosphere, aerodynamic forces, such as drag, act on it, slowing it down and converting its kinetic energy into heat. Using atmospheric drag is usually the most mass-efficient method of slowing down a spacecraft.

Since HIAD technology is larger than traditional heat shields, it creates more drag and starts the deceleration process in the upper reaches of the atmosphere, allowing not only heavier payloads, but also landings at higher altitudes. Furthermore, it could be used to recover an unprecedented amount of mass from low Earth orbit, including elements from the International Space Station. Another significant potential benefit is enabling the recovery of rocket assets for reuse, which can reduce the overall cost of access to space, NASA reports.

HIAD’s design consists of an inflatable structure that maintains its shape against drag forces and a flexible thermal protection system that resists the heat of re-entry. The inflatable structure is built with a stack of pressurized concentric rings, or tori, which join together to form an exceptionally strong blunt cone-shaped structure.

The rings are made from braided synthetic fibers that are 10 times stronger than steel by weight. A flexible thermal protection system insulates the rings from the scorching heat of atmospheric ingress; LOFT ID can withstand temperatures above 1600°C. It is constructed of three layers: an outer layer of ceramic fiber cloth to maintain surface integrity, a middle layer of insulators to inhibit heat transmission, and an inner layer that prevents hot gas from reaching the inflatable structure. The flexible thermal protection system is also collapsible, packable, deployable and adaptable. Because it is flexible, takes up less space on the rocket and allows the design to be scalable.