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Title: Thermal Protection System Technologies for Enabling Future Sample Return Missions
Primary Author: Ethiraj Venkatapathy
Secondary Author(s): Christine E. Szalai, Bernard Laub, Helen H. Hwang, Joseph L. Conley, James Arnold, Jim Tibaudo, Robert Knudsen, Andrew Chambers, David Atkinson, Sushil K. Atreva, Joseph M. Vellinga, William H. Willcockson, Janine M. Thornton, Nicholas G. Smith, Richard A. Hund, John Dec, Max L. Blosser, Michelle M. Munk, Robert Maddock, Prasun N. Desai, Walter Engelund, Stephen Sandford, David A. Gilman, Steven W. Gayle, John Kowal, Christopher B. Madden, Stan Bouslog, Brian J. Remark, Donald Curry, Scott Coughlin, Adam J. Amar, Kevin H. Baines, Tibor Balint, Bernard Bienstock, George T. Chen, James A. Cutts, Jeffery L. Hall, Samad A. Hayati, Pamela J. Hoffman, Linda Spilker, Romasso P. Rivellini, Robert Manning, Eric M. Slimko, Adam D. Steltzner, Thomas Spilker, Jeffrey Umland, Charles Kiskiras, Duane Baker, Thomas Foster, Dominic Calamito, James B. Garvin, Timothy A. Sauerwein, Sharon Seipel, Lori S. Glaze, Spencer Stolis, Mark Lippold, Francis Schwind, James Thompson, Raj Narayan, Thomas Andrews, Conley Thatcher, Edwin B. Curry, John McKinney, Robert Frampton, Todd Stever, Charley Bown, William Congdon, Jennifer Congdon, Daniel M. Empey, Joe Hartman, Dinesh Prabhu, Nancy L. Mangini, Kristina A. Skokova, Margaret M. Stackpoole, Tood White, Howard Goldstein, Melmoth Covington, Robin A. Beck, Carol W. Carroll, Charles A. Smith, Deepak Bose, Anthony Colaprete, David M. Driver, Edward Martinez, Donald T. Ellerby, Matthew J. Gasch, Aga M. Goodsell, James Reuther, Sylvia M. Johnson, Dean Kontinos, Mary Livingston, Michael J. Wright, Harry Partridge, George A. Raiche, Huy K. Tran, Kerry A. Trumble
Institution: NASA Ames Research Center
Summary: Currently available TPS materials can meet the needs of Sample Return missions with entry velocity <13 km/s. For entry velocity >13 km/s, heritage carbon phenolic is fully capable, but potentially unavailable and currently available TPS will need to be qualified.
Panel Selection: Primitive Bodies: Asteroids, comets, Phobos, Deimos, Pluto/Charon and other Kuiper belt objects, meteorites, and interplanetary dust.
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These documents have been prepared in coordination with the National Academies of Science in support of the National Academies Planetary Science Decadal Survey. These documents are being made available for information purposes only, and any views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of NASA, JPL, or the California Institute of Technology.