heat shield

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noun Aerospace.

a coating or structure that surrounds part of the nose cone or other vulnerable surfaces of a spacecraft and, by heat absorption or ablation, protects them from excessive heating during reentry.

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Origin of heat shield

First recorded in 1955–60

Words nearby heat shield

heat pump, heat rash, heat reservoir, heat-seal, heat-seeking, heat shield, heat sink, heatstroke, heat-treat, heat up, heat wave

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use heat shield in a sentence

All that resistance, however, acted as a powerful brake, and three minutes after peak heating, the speed of the ship was reduced to 1,609 kph, slow enough for the heat shield to be jettisoned and a parachute to deploy.
What Perseverance, NASA's New Mars Rover, Will Be Doing in its Years on the Red Planet|Jeffrey Kluger|February 18, 2021|Time
The spacecraft survived scorching temperatures thanks to its heat shield.
This is the first image taken by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover. Now the hunt for life begins.|Neel Patel|February 18, 2021|MIT Technology Review
In this case, gas in front of the vehicle will be rapidly compressed, causing a huge jump in pressure and temperature between the shock wave and the heat shield.
‘7 Minutes of Terror’: The Technology Perseverance Will Need to Survive Landing on Mars|Chris James|February 18, 2021|Singularity Hub
Perseverance is protected by a heat shield and shell, as well as a suite of 28 sensors that monitor hot gases and winds.
NASA’s Perseverance rover is about to start searching for life on Mars|Neel Patel|February 17, 2021|MIT Technology Review

The lunar Starship will be equipped with lighter thrusters to ease it on and off the moon’s surface, and it won’t have the flaps and heat shield needed for reentering Earth’s atmosphere.
NASA Will Soon Choose One of These 3 Landers to Go Back to the Moon|Vanessa Bates Ramirez|January 14, 2021|Singularity Hub
Up next: heat-shield separation and radar acquisition of the ground.
Curiosity’s Mars Landing Narrated Moment by Moment by Flight Director Keith Comeaux|Keith Comeaux|August 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for heat shield

heat shield

noun

a coating or barrier for shielding from excessive heat, such as that experienced by a spacecraft on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for heat shield

heat shield

A barrier that prevents a substance from absorbing heat energy from an outside source by absorbing and dissipating, or simply reflecting, that heat. Heat shields are commonly used to protect parts of a device from heat generated by its energy source, as in isolating the cabin of a car from its motor. Many spacecraft dissipate heat generated by friction with the atmosphere upon reentry using heat shields that melt and vaporize, dissipating the energy back into the atmosphere.

heat shield

Origin of heat shield

Words nearby heat shield

Words related to heat shield

How to use heat shield in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for heat shield

Scientific definitions for heat shield