NASA Tests Heat Shields on a Cygnus Re-entry
NASA is testing new heat shield materials by flying 12 small capsules inside a departing Cygnus cargo ship that will break apart on re-entry, the agency's Ames Research Center said Oct. 9.
Written on Oct. 16, 2026 from the source documents listed below, after the dates it covers.
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The story
NASA is testing heat shields for future Moon and Mars missions in an unusual way: by riding along with the trash, NASA's Ames Research Center said on Oct. 9. Before Northrop Grumman's Cygnus XL left the International Space Station, astronauts packed it with waste and activated 12 small capsules inside.
The experiment, the Kentucky Re-entry Probe Experiment (KREPE-3), is the third in a series that uses the final moments of a cargo spacecraft's life to gather data. As the vehicle breaks apart in the atmosphere, the capsules are designed to eject and record temperature, pressure, motion, magnetic field and light, sending data to researchers through satellite signals.
University of Kentucky students designed the capsules, which carry a mix of materials.
University of Kentucky students designed the capsules, which carry a mix of materials. Some are proven, such as the ceramic tile material used on the space shuttle.
Others are new, including a 3D-printed heat shield from NASA's Johnson Space Center and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and two capsules covered in an Ames material called MERINO, made from layers of carbon and phenolic fibers stitched together like felt. Ames says MERINO is more flexible, faster to produce and less expensive than traditional materials, making it a promising candidate for Mars missions.
Another capsule is shaped like the aeroshell for NASA's Dragonfly mission to Saturn's moon Titan, and one tests an umbrella-shaped deployable heat shield.
Sources
The primary documents behind this story, with direct links to each one.
- NASA Demonstrates Next-Generation Heat Shield Technologies
- Cygnus XL Cargo Spacecraft Released from Station by Canadarm2
Image and footage credits: Lead image: NASA · NASA Images and Media Usage Guidelines (NASA content generally not subject to U.S. copyright) · NASA/Brandon Torres-Navarrete · NASA Images and Media Usage Guidelines (NASA content generally not subject to U.S. copyright)
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