heat shield
noun
: a barrier of ablative material to protect a space capsule from heat on its entry into an atmosphere
Examples of heat shield in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In the collection is a capsule that NASA shot up to test a heat shield, a helicopter that recovered astronauts and a Mobile Quarantine Facility (at $250,000, the world’s most expensive Airstream trailer) that astronauts stayed in before being deemed free of moon germs.
—
John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2024
During a live view of entry, a glowing red halo could be seen around Starship, indicating the scorching temperatures its heat shield faced.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024
But that could slip into 2025, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in an interview, as engineers continue to study how the capsule’s heat shield performed during its first flight to the moon.
—Christian Davenport, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2024
The destruction of the Starship upper stage in the final seconds of its engine burn also eliminated a chance to test the ship's heat shield.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 18 Nov. 2023
But mission managers opted to delay the launch to give engineers more time to resolve an issue with the Orion capsule's protective heat shield that was found after the Artemis 1 re-entry.
—William Harwood, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2024
Amit Kshatriya, a deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Moon to Mars program, said issues with that heat shield are among the reasons for the delay.
—Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Jan. 2024
Verifying the performance of Starship's heat shield tiles during reentry will be valuable learning for SpaceX, but Starship first needs to be fully successful with a launch.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 4 Jan. 2024
Orion’s heat shield is manufactured differently than Apollo’s heat shields were, however, and it’s also being subjected to different conditions.
—Michael Greshko, Scientific American, 18 Jan. 2024
John Metcalfe, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2024
During a live view of entry, a glowing red halo could be seen around Starship, indicating the scorching temperatures its heat shield faced.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 16 Mar. 2024
But that could slip into 2025, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in an interview, as engineers continue to study how the capsule’s heat shield performed during its first flight to the moon.
—Christian Davenport, Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2024
The destruction of the Starship upper stage in the final seconds of its engine burn also eliminated a chance to test the ship's heat shield.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 18 Nov. 2023
But mission managers opted to delay the launch to give engineers more time to resolve an issue with the Orion capsule's protective heat shield that was found after the Artemis 1 re-entry.
—William Harwood, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2024
Amit Kshatriya, a deputy associate administrator for NASA’s Moon to Mars program, said issues with that heat shield are among the reasons for the delay.
—Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Jan. 2024
Verifying the performance of Starship's heat shield tiles during reentry will be valuable learning for SpaceX, but Starship first needs to be fully successful with a launch.
—Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 4 Jan. 2024
Orion’s heat shield is manufactured differently than Apollo’s heat shields were, however, and it’s also being subjected to different conditions.
—Michael Greshko, Scientific American, 18 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'heat shield.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Heat shield.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heat%20shield. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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