aeroshield

I'd also want a backup to THAT system, for instance a simple reentry cargo return and recovery vehicle constructed out of the nosecone aeroshield, a simple attitude control system that could double as retro devices, parachutes and airbags for floatation and an integrated lifeboat capable of drifting for weeks on the open ocean before recovery.

Trying To Spin The Facts - NASA Watch 2009

I would take a non-flight worthy cryogenic core stage, either a line reject or unusable extra, such as a Delta IV medium core, and instrument the nosecone aeroshield with accelerometers and temperature sensors, equip it with a minimal blast shield and basic parachute recovery system, tank it and and then ignite a small cryogenic explosion at the base, simulating a catastrophic engine failure.

NASA ESAS Study Appendices Show up on Pay-Per Use Site - NASA Watch 2009

You want these things incorporated in every cargo and human rated rocket going up there, and fortunately they can be - it's called the nosecone aeroshield, and every rocket payload has one.

How Best to Access the ISS-and LEO? - NASA Watch 2009

Therefore, most of your design attributes can be doubled up, attitude control, OMS, nosecone aeroshield going up, cargo and rescue going down, and they can be stacked like onions, the rescue vehicle encapsulating the lifeboat capsule, etc.

How Best to Access the ISS-and LEO? - NASA Watch 2009

However, it is extremely doubtful that any lander, fully fueled for ascent though it might be, could really ascend successfully to orbit by taking off from the back of an aeroshield buffeting its way at hypersonic speeds through the Martian atmosphere.

The Case for Mars Robert Zubrin 1996

This is clearly the optimal way to perform Mars orbital capture MOC in the Mars Direct missions because all the payload is destined for the Martian surface, and so it must carry an aeroshield in any case.

The Case for Mars Robert Zubrin 1996

However, it is extremely doubtful that any lander, fully fueled for ascent though it might be, could really ascend successfully to orbit by taking off from the back of an aeroshield buffeting its way at hypersonic speeds through the Martian atmosphere.

The Case for Mars Robert Zubrin 1996

This is clearly the optimal way to perform Mars orbital capture MOC in the Mars Direct missions because all the payload is destined for the Martian surface, and so it must carry an aeroshield in any case.

The Case for Mars Robert Zubrin 1996