heat shield

noun

: a barrier of ablative material to protect a space capsule from heat on its entry into an atmosphere

Examples of heat shield in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Spacecraft burn precious fuel carrying heavy ceramic heat shields. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026

The aft end of Nova’s second stage is designed with a heat shield to protect the vehicle during reentry through Earth’s atmosphere. — Josh Dinner, Space.com, 8 Sep. 2026

The pipe takes multiple bends before feeding into a handmade box muffler that doubles as a functional heat shield. — New Atlas, 2 Sep. 2026

Confidence in future Artemis missions The success of the Artemis II heat shield, which now appears to have been confirmed by an extensive data review, will give NASA confidence in the performance of its deep-space vehicle for future lunar missions. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 1 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for heat shield

• afield
• airfield
• annealed
• appealed
• brownfield
• coalfield
• concealed
• congealed
• cornfield
• downfield
• goldfield
• hayfield

Kids Definition

heat shield

noun

: a barrier of insulation to protect a space capsule from heat on its return to earth