This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. THIS INFLATABLE DEVICE COULD BE KEY TO ...

NASA launched a novel new heat shield prototype on a successful test flight Monday (July 23), a mission that sent a high-tech space balloon streaking through Earth's atmosphere at hypersonic speeds of ...

The IRVE-3 went through a complete inflation system test under vacuum conditions in the Transonic Dynamics Tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. The Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle ...

NASA's LOFTID technology demonstration will inflate a heat shield six meters across and then deploy it from a Centaur upper stage for a reentry test. Credit: NASA WASHINGTON — A payload hitching a ...

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 ...

HAMPTON, Va. — NASA is set to test new technology developed at Langley Research Center in Hampton that aims to make a key aspect of space travel easier. On November 1, the space agency plans to launch ...

Taking inspiration from the Hollywood text-book, scientists at NASA are testing daredevil technology which will see space ships slowed down when they hit a planet's atmosphere. Their latest technology ...

Legendary science fiction author Sir Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008) scored another hit in the prediction department on Monday, July 23, 2012 when NASA tested an inflatable heat shield that he foresaw ...

The Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE) successfully protected its payload as it fell to Earth from an altitude of more than 200 km this week An inflatable heat shield was successfully ...

NASA technicians and engineers are putting the finishing touches on a unique experiment designed to demonstrate that an inflatable aeroshell/heat shield could be used to protect spacecraft when ...

An inflatable-heat-shield prototype designed to protect spacecraft on other worlds has passed its first key step: making sure it fits into a rocket. In a recent test, the 9-foot-diameter (3 meters) ...