4D images show heat shield damage goes below the surface

Urbana, IL (SPX) Aug 01, 2025

Rather than completely burning up when a spacecraft reenters Earth's atmosphere, its heat shield's outer surface is sacrificed to protect the rest of the vehicle. The carbon fibers decompose, dissipating the heat. It was assumed that this only happens on the surface, but in a recent study, researchers from The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and four othe