This Jan. 29, 2026, photo captures the streak the Varda Space Industries W-5 capsule made while returning to Earth. The capsule uses a protective heat shield Varda produced made of cutting-edge material it licensed from NASA. The material, known as C-PICA (Conformal Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator), provides a stronger, less expensive, and more efficient thermal protection coating to capsules, allowing them – and their valuable contents – to return to Earth safely.
Developed at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley, C-PICA sets the standard for heat shields, reflecting the decades of expertise that NASA brings to designing, developing, and testing innovative thermal protection materials. This flight test of Varda-produced C-PICA was supported by NASA’s Flight Opportunities program.
Image credit: Varda Space Industries/William Godward
这张摄于2026年1月29日的照片，捕捉到了瓦尔达航天工业公司（Varda Space Industries）的W-5太空舱重返地球时划过天际的轨迹。该太空舱使用了一款由瓦尔达制造的防护性防热盾，其采用了从NASA获得授权的尖端材料。这种名为C-PICA（保形酚醛浸渍碳烧蚀材料）的材料，为太空舱提供了更坚固、更低成本且更高效的热防护涂层，从而确保飞船及其搭载的珍贵货物能安全返回地球。
C-PICA研发于位于加州硅谷的NASA艾姆斯研究中心，它树立了防热盾的新标杆，体现了NASA在设计、开发及测试创新热防护材料方面积累的数十年专业造诣。此次针对瓦尔达制造的C-PICA进行的飞行测试得到了NASA“飞行机会”计划的支持。
图片来源: Varda Space Industries/William Godward
