The finished heat shield for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory, with a
diameter of 4.5 meters (14 feet, 9 inches), is the largest ever built for
descending through the atmosphere of any planet. This image shows the heat
shield and a spacecraft worker at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver,
which built and tested the heat shield.
The heat shield and the spacecraft's backshell together form an
encapsulating aeroshell that will protect the mission's rover, Curiosity,
from the intense heat and friction that will be generated as the flight
system descends through the Martian atmosphere. The aeroshell has a
steering capability produced by ejecting ballast that offsets the center
of mass prior to entry into the atmosphere. This offset creates lift as it
interacts with the thin Martian atmosphere and allows roll control and
autonomous steering through the use of thrusters.
The Mars Science Laboratory is being assembled and tested for launch in
the autumn of 2011. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the mission.