NASA is testing a foldable umbrella heat shield that the space agency plans to use when it sends the first humans to Mars.

Called the Adaptable Deployable Entry Placement Technology (ADEPT), the device will be able to slow down descent and shield a spacecraft from the heat of entering a planet's atmosphere.

"At the larger scales, it could be used for something as grand as human Mars explorations, or potentially human cargo landings on Mars," stated NASA's Brandon Smith.

Foldable Aeroshell

ADEPT is a game-changing technology, according to its creators. The device can be folded and can be squeezed into a rocket but, when fully expanded, can deliver a large heat shield wider than the diameter of the rocket transporting it.

The umbrella-like aeroshell uses "3D woven carbon fabric skin stretched over deployable ribs and struts" that acts as the agent that protects the spacecraft during entry. 

"Carbon fabric has been the major recent breakthrough enabling this technology, as it utilizes pure carbon yarns that are woven three-dimensionally to give you a very durable surface," explained ADEPT project manager Paul Wercinski. "Carbon is a wonderful material for high temperature applications."

NASA is hoping to use ADEPT during space-bound missions that require large aeroshells to protect a spacecraft carrying large and important payload to surfaces of planets. Aside from protecting a spacecraft from the heat and pressure, the device will also slow down entry without the need for larger rockets. 

ADEPT Testing

On Wednesday, Sept. 12, NASA launched ADEPT using a Spaceloft suborbital rocket created by the UP Aerospace. The test took place in a spaceport in New Mexico. 

The device was deployed between 100 and 120 kilometers (62 and 75 miles) above the ground. Then, it separated from the rocket, opened like an umbrella, and made its way back to the ground. It landed at the White Sands Missile Range. 

Data recorded from the test has not been released yet, but NASA says that it expects the aeroshell to descend at a peak speed of three times the speed of sound or 2,300 miles per hour. 

The space agency will next drop ADEPT for reentry at higher orbital speeds of about 17,000 miles per hour. Once ready to be deployed, the aeroshell will be used to send probes to Venus or Titan and, soon, humans on Mars. 

NASA is planning to send a new rover to the red planet by 2020. The U.S. government also hopes to send astronauts to the Earth's neighboring planet by 2033.