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Engineers at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley, Bohdan Wesely, right, and Eli Hiss, left, complete a fit check of the two halves of a space capsule that will study the clouds of Venus for signs of life.<\/p>\n
Led by Rocket Lab of Long Beach, California, and their partners at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Rocket Lab\u2019s Venus mission\u00a0will be the first private mission to the planet.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s role is to help the commercial space endeavor succeed by providing expertise in thermal protection of small spacecraft. Invented at Ames, NASA\u2019s Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET) \u2013 the brown, textured material covering the bottom of the capsule in this photo \u2013 is a woven heat shield designed to protect spacecraft from temperatures up to 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit. The probe will deploy from Rocket Lab\u2019s Photon spacecraft bus, taking measurements as it descends through the planet\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Teams at Ames work with private companies, like Rocket Lab, to turn NASA materials into solutions such as the heat shield tailor-made for this spacecraft destined for Venus, supporting growth of the new space economy. NASA\u2019s Small Spacecraft Technology program, part of the agency\u2019s Space Technology Mission Directorate, supported development of the heat shield for Rocket Lab\u2019s Venus mission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n