NASA’s technology designed to protect the spacecraft from heat and pressure as it enters the planetary atmosphere is planned to be launched from New Mexico as part of the testing project.
On Friday, agency officials said the system would be located on board a suborbital rocket, which will be sent on September 12 with the help of UP Aerospace. As soon as the rocket is in the correct location, the umbrella-shaped shield will open wide.
The shield is made of carbon cloth and supported by semi-rigid sheets. NASA says it will allow the reconnaissance spacecraft, larger than the Martian rover Curiosity, to successfully land on other planets in the solar system. The shield was manufactured at NASA (California) Research Center.
As part of the launch, NASA will also test other technologies for launch vehicles and measure the internal environment of suborbital vehicles.
