NASA Image NASA Completes Successful Heat Shield Testing for Future Mars Exploration

[Bok]

As NASA missions to Mars progress with science and complex human exploration missions, spacecraft will require larger heat shields to protect against the extreme heat of entering a planet's atmosphere and decelerating at a safe altitude in the thin Martian atmosphere.

More... (http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/nasa-completes-successful-heat-shield-testing-for-future-mars-exploration-vehicles)