Flexible Ablator for Thermal Protection

NASA has developed a class of low-density, flexible ablators that can be fabricated into heat-shields capable of being packaged, stowed, and deployed in space. The key characteristics of this new ablative thermal protection system (TPS) are its flexibility, conformability, and tailor-ability. Flexibility allows the material to be stowed in the shroud of a launch vehicle and deployed in space, without compromising functionality. Conformability allows the material to be attached to a curved surface without precise and expensive machining. Tailor-ability allows the density and composition to be optimized for the requirements. This flexible TPS can be used to cover and thermally protect a large, blunt shape that provides aerodynamic drag during hyper-velocity atmospheric flight. It can be used with minimal modification for large aeroshells whose deployment relies mainly on mechanical means and through inflation. Such devices are called Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators (HIADs). Large blunt body aeroshells may be used to deliver large payloads (40 metric tons) to the surface of Mars.