# NASA collaboration captures heat shield breakdown in 3D during heating

_Published Monday, October 5, 2026 at 1:16 PM EDT · Science · Latest · Tier 2 — Notable_

![NASA collaboration captures heat shield breakdown in 3D during heating — Primary](https://scx2.b-cdn.net/gfx/news/2026/x-rays-and-ai-reveal-h.jpg)

Researchers working with NASA and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Advanced Light Source captured three-dimensional images of heat shield materials as they broke down during heating, Phys.org reports. The technique lets researchers observe changes during the process rather than relying on before-and-after images.

A specialized chamber heats samples to 900℃ and varies pressure and gas composition. X-ray scans record their internal structure, while a trained generative adversarial network converts faster, intermediate-resolution scans into high-resolution 3D records.

The researchers observed cork particles forming voids in SLA-561V and branching microchannels in SLA-220. They have not yet updated the simulations engineers use to predict heat shield behavior.

## Sources

- [Phys.org](https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rays-ai-reveal-spacecraft-shields.html)

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Canonical: https://techandbusiness.org/newswire/lkszyTFLCJAfcKLCZb-ZCn
Published: 2026-10-05T17:16:53.877Z
Story chronology: 2026-10-05T16:20:09.000Z
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T19:15:57.242Z
Publisher: Tech & Business (techandbusiness.org)