Sandia conducts tests at Solar Tower to benefit future NASA space explorations

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Sandia conducts tests at Solar Tower to benefit future NASA space explorations
Missions of interest include Saturn's Titan
For the last two years, tests have been conducted at Sandia National Laboratories' National Solar Thermal Test Facility to see how materials used for NASA's future planetary exploration missions can withstand severe radiant heating.
The tests apply heat equivalent to 1,500 suns to spacecraft shields called Advanced Charring Ablators. The ablators protect spacecraft entering atmospheres at hypersonic speeds.


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