Atmosphere-specific heat shield behavior revealed for Venus and Titan entries

UIUC researchers using a Plasmatron X wind tunnel found that heat-shield ablation depends on atmospheric composition: in oxygen-rich environments ablation erodes the surface steadily, but when oxygen is absent the process becomes unsteady with intermittent, sometimes violent particle bursts. This “breathing” behavior affects shield performance and has implications for future missions like Dragonfly to Titan, whose nitrogen–methane atmosphere differs from Earth’s.