heat shield
noun Aerospace.
a coating or structure that surrounds part of the nose cone or other vulnerable surfaces of a spacecraft and, by heat absorption or ablation, protects them from excessive heating during reentry.
Origin of heat shield
First recorded in 1955–60
Words nearby heat shield
heat of vaporization,
heat prostration,
heat pump,
heat rash,
heat reservoir,
heat shield,
heat sink,
heat stroke,
heat up,
heat urticaria,
heat wave
Example sentences from the Web for heat shield
Up next: heat-shield separation and radar acquisition of the ground.
Curiosity’s Mars Landing Narrated Moment by Moment by Flight Director Keith Comeaux |Keith Comeaux |August 7, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
British Dictionary definitions for heat shield
heat shield
noun
a coating or barrier for shielding from excessive heat, such as that experienced by a spacecraft on re-entry into the earth's atmosphere
Scientific definitions for heat shield
heat shield
A barrier that prevents a substance from absorbing heat energy from an outside source by absorbing and dissipating, or simply reflecting, that heat. Heat shields are commonly used to protect parts of a device from heat generated by its energy source, as in isolating the cabin of a car from its motor. Many spacecraft dissipate heat generated by friction with the atmosphere upon reentry using heat shields that melt and vaporize, dissipating the energy back into the atmosphere.