Tests Underway At Ames Research Center

As NASA moves toward dismantling the space shuttle program by 2010 and gears up for the next phase of space exploration -- the moon, Mars and beyond -- scientists at the Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA are hard at work trying to find the next generation heat shield.

That shield will need to protect the Crew Exploration vehicle as it returns up to six astronauts from a trip to the Moon. It's an especially difficult challenge, given that the CEV will enter Earth's atmosphere at about 25,000 miles an hour -- one-third faster than a vehicle re-entering from low-Earth orbit.

That difference in speed can make the temperatures experienced during reentry increase by more than tenfold, according to James Reuther, product manager of heat-shield testing for the CEV.

"It's a real challenge," Reuther told CNet News.

Scientists are testing new heat shield designs at the arc-jet lab at Ames, which can create conditions that are up to three times as hot as the surface of the sun. A nozzle accelerates and directs superheated air onto small, hockey-puck-sized sample materials that eventually may be used on the CEV's heat shield.

Five different materials being tested for possible use on the CEV... including some made of quartz and resin, as well as a material called "Pica," developed at Ames.

The materials used won't be the only difference between the CEV's heat shield and the ceramic-tile shield used on the space shuttle. Scientists at Ames are also working on a shield design that uses a series of layers -- called "blades" -- that would melt away as the ship reenters the atmosphere.

This kind of ablative covering was also used on the Apollo capsules -- as well as the current Russian Soyuz -- but the new materials would give the CEV's shield greater resistance to heat.

NASA wants the CEV ready for flight as early as 2012.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/home/index.html