Description
Abstract: Starting in 2014 and completing in 2019, the Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) project has been working to mature a 3-D Woven Thermal Protection System (TPS) to Technical Readiness Level (TRL) 6 to support future NASA missions to destinations with extreme entry environments such as Venus, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and highspeed sample return missions to Earth. A key aspect of the project has been the building and testing of a 1-meter base diameter Engineering Test Unit (ETU) representative of what could be used for a Saturn probe. This paper provides a high-level overview of the HEEET project including 1) manufacturing and testing of the ETU for structural model verification, 2) establish system capability and 3) verify manufacturing workmanship.
Authors: Don Ellerby, Ethiraj Venkatapathy, Peter Gage, Margaret Stackpoole, Matthew Gasch, Keith Peterson, Zion Young, Cole Kazemba, Milad Mahzari, Owen Nishioka, Carl Poteet, Scott Splinter, Sarah Langston, Charles Kellerman, Joseph Williams, Dinesh Parbhu, Ben Libben, Frank Milos, Mike Fowler, David Driver, Grant Palmer5, Greg Gonzales, Tane Boghozian, Jose Chavez-Garcia, Ruth Miller, Alexander Murphy, Kelvin G. Boston, Joshua S. Beverly, Elora K. Frye, Wayne D. Geouge, Kevin J. Mclain, Joseph J. O’Connell, Teresa L. O’Neil, Gregory T. Shanks, Mark Thornblom, Jacob S. Tury, Kevin L. Bloxom, Dwight L. Duncan, William M. Johnston, Louise O’Donnell, Mark C. Roth, and Stewart Walker
Keywords: 3D Woven, Ablative TPS, Extreme Entry Environment