space capsules such as used on Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo were given blunt shapes to produce a stand-off bow shock, allowing most of the heat to dissipate into the surrounding air. Additionally, these vehicles had ablative material that sublimates into a gas at high temperature. The act of sublimation absorbs the thermal energy from the aerodynamic heating and erodes the material rather than heating the capsule. The surface of the heat shield for the Mercury spacecraft had a coating of aluminium with glassfiber in many layers. As the temperature rose to the layers would evaporate and take the heat with it. The spacecraft would become hot but not harmfully so. The Space Shuttle used insulating tiles on its lower surface to absorb and radiate heat while preventing conduction to the aluminium airframe. Damage to the heat shield during liftoff of Space Shuttle Columbia contributed to its destruction upon reentry. References Moore, F.G., Approximate Methods for Weapon Aerodynamics, AIAA Progress in Astronautics and Aeronautics, Volume 186 Chapman, A.J., Heat Transfer, Third Edition, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1974 Bell Laboratories R&D, ABM Research and Development At Bell Laboratories, 1974. Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex Atmospheric entry Heat transfer Aerospace engineering Aerodynamics