Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) Overview

The Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) is demonstrating a cross-cutting aeroshell — a type of heat shield — for atmospheric re-entry. One of the challenges NASA faces is how to deliver heavy payloads (experiments, equipment and people) to destinations with an atmosphere, because current rigid aeroshells are constrained by a rocket’s shroud size. One answer is an inflatable aeroshell that can be deployed to a scale much larger than the shroud. This technology enables a variety of proposed NASA missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, Titan as well as return to Earth...