A large inflatable heat shield developed by NASA's Space Technology Program has successfully survived a trip through Earth's atmosphere while travelling at hypersonic speeds up to 7,600 mph. The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) was launched by sounding rocket at 7:01 a.m. Monday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island. Read more
The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) was successfully launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore on July 21.
NASA Successfully Tests Hypersonic Inflatable Heat Shield
A large inflatable heat shield developed by NASA's Space Technology Program has successfully survived a trip through Earth's atmosphere while travelling at hypersonic speeds up to 7,600 mph. The Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE-3) was launched by sounding rocket at 7:01 a.m. Monday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. Read more
NASA July 22 Postponed -- Test Article To Splashdown Off North Carolina Coast
Due to bad weather and rough seas off the coast of North Carolina, NASA has postponed today's launch attempt of an inflatable heat shield technology demonstration flight from the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. Read more
NASA managers are rescheduling the launch of an inflatable heat shield technology demonstration flight from the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island until no earlier than Sunday. Read more
NASA Hypersonic Inflatable Tech Test Now Set For Launch July 22
NASA managers are rescheduling the launch of an inflatable heat shield technology demonstration flight from the agency's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., until no earlier than Sunday, July 22. Read more
NASA Launches New Technology: An Inflatable Heat Shield A successful NASA flight test Monday demonstrated how a spacecraft returning to Earth can use an inflatable heat shield to slow and protect itself as it enters the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. The Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment, or IRVE, was vacuum-packed into a 15-inch diameter payload "shroud" and launched on a small sounding rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va., at 8:52 a.m. EDT. The 10-foot diameter heat shield, made of several layers of silicone-coated industrial fabric, inflated with nitrogen to a mushroom shape in space several minutes after liftoff.