A modern spacecraft heat shield is designed to endure temperatures 100 times hotter than a household oven
As the Orion spacecraft plunges through Earth's atmosphere at eleven kilometers per second, its advanced thermal protection system survives temperatures that would instantly liquefy most metals found on Earth.
The Orion spacecraft is built to survive a fiery reentry at speeds of 11 kilometers per second. This high-velocity descent creates a layer of superheated plasma reaching 5,000 degrees Celsius, a temperature roughly 100 times hotter than a standard household oven. To protect the crew, the capsule is covered in an ablative material called Avcoat, which slowly chars and breaks away to carry heat away from the cabin.
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