Inflatable Heat Shield Technology
•A new technology being tested and possibly being used on future probes and manned spacecraft will be the inflatable heat shield.
•The shield is vacuum packed into a diameter of 15 inches.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Inflatable_Re-entry_Vehicle_Experiment.jpg
•The shield is then inflated with nitrogen and reaches a 10ft diameter for re-entry.
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•The shield consists of a silicon coated Kevlar fabric.
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The benefits include a much more compact space craft and reduced weight penalties of a larger static heat shield construction.
Due to its large surface area it can benefit from the high drag and will not reach higher re-entry temperatures.

Crowd Question:
1.What would be an ideal application for this re-entry tech be? – Rover Landers, lower weight, less fuel, more equipment.