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

Therefore, SpaceX's most important goal for the 10th Starship flight will be gathering information about how well the ship's different heat shield materials hold up during reentry. —Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 15 Aug. 2025

The streak is a plasma trail created by intense friction between Dragon's heat shield and atmospheric gases arising as the craft reenter's Earth's atmosphere, according to NASA. —Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 25 July 2025

Musk Is Still Useful: Trump continues to see far more upside than downside to Elon Musk, who has become a heat shield for a president who avoids blame at any cost. —Victoria Kim, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025

Without the ability to steer the craft, SpaceX said it re-entered Earth's atmosphere at an angle that is not ideal for its heat shield. —Matthew Glasser, ABC News, 27 May 2025

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