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
Starship’s heat shield will ultimately need to be durable enough to survive both types of reentry, potentially multiple times.
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Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 19 June 2025
Releasing the trunk also exposes the spacecraft’s heat shield, which is critical to protecting the vehicle and the astronauts from the extreme heat of atmospheric re-entry.
—NBC News, 19 Mar. 2025
On this fifth test flight, SpaceX modified the ship's heat shield to better handle the hot temperatures of reentry, and the vehicle again made it to an on-target splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
—Ars Technica, 17 Jan. 2025
But Raptor 3 is designed to not require a heat shield around the thrust chamber and turbopump.
—ArsTechnica, 27 May 2025
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Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 19 June 2025
Releasing the trunk also exposes the spacecraft’s heat shield, which is critical to protecting the vehicle and the astronauts from the extreme heat of atmospheric re-entry.
—NBC News, 19 Mar. 2025
On this fifth test flight, SpaceX modified the ship's heat shield to better handle the hot temperatures of reentry, and the vehicle again made it to an on-target splashdown in the Indian Ocean.
—Ars Technica, 17 Jan. 2025
But Raptor 3 is designed to not require a heat shield around the thrust chamber and turbopump.
—ArsTechnica, 27 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for heat shield
Cite this Entry
“Heat shield.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heat%20shield. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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