heat shield

American  

noun

Aerospace.

1. 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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heat shield British  

noun

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

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heat shield Scientific  

1. 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.

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Etymology

Origin of heat shield

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

That will set up the capsule to dive into the Earth’s atmosphere, putting to the test a heat shield designed to protect the ship and astronauts.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

During the 2022 Artemis I test mission, which had no people aboard, the heat shield had unexpectedly chipped in more than 100 spots.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

"We have high confidence in the system and the heat shield and the parachutes and the recovery systems we put together," Kshatriya said.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

The Orion spacecraft’s heat shield will be tested in an intense re-entry to the Earth’s atmosphere.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

This was caused by little pieces of our heat shield burning up and coming off, as it was supposed to do, to protect us from the searing frictional heat.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins