Heat Shield (10m)

Heat Shield (10m)
Heat shield by O.M.B. Demolition Enterprises
Radial size		Large
Cost	(total)	2 400.00
Mass	(total)	1.500 t
Drag		0.1
Max. Temp.		3500 K
Impact Tolerance		9 m/s
Research		Heavy Landing
Unlock cost		6 400
Since version		1.1
Part configuration		HeatShield.cfg
Ejection momentum		100 Ns
Testing Environments
On the surface		Yes
In the ocean		Yes
On the launchpad		Yes
In the atmosphere		Yes
Sub-orbital		No
In an orbit		No
On an escape		No
Docked		No
Test by staging		No
Manually testable		Yes

The Heat Shield (10m) is a large, inflatable heat shield used to protect parts from aerodynamic heating. Unlike other heat shields, the Heat Shield (10m) does not use ablator, instead relying only on its high temperature tolerance.

Before inflating, it has a radius of 2.5m. After inflating, it has a radius of 10m, as the name suggests.

Once inflated, it cannot be deflated. Like other heat shields, it can be jettisoned without the use of a decoupler.

Product description

“

Based on the design of a child's toy, this heat shield uses a set of inflatable rings covered with a thermal blanket to provide a generous 10-meter heat shield for reentry and deceleration and the aerodynamic qualities of an untethered bouncy castle. — O.M.B. Demolition Enterprises

”

The heat shield from several angles, as of its release in version 1.1.

Trivia

• An inflatable heat shield demonstrator (IRDT) and a Fregat upper stage equipped with an inflatable heat shield were test flown in 2000 by a cooperation of NPO Lavochkin, ESA, DASA, and EU. The test was mostly successful. [1] [2]
• A smaller-scale inflatable heat shield was successfully tested by NASA in 2009 [3], while a larger one (LOFTID) was tested in 2022 [4].
• It appears to be able to float on Kerbin's water without flipping.
• The heat shield is very draggy; this can be used to make aerobraking and aerocapture easier. However, it can also lead to aerodynamic instability. One way to fix this is to place a second Heat Shield (10m) on the back of the vessel, acting like a parachute or ballute.

Changes

1.2

• Moved from Aero to Thermal
• Added ModuleLiftingSurface

1.1

• Initial release