Researchers have found a way to watch spacecraft heat shields break down in real time. The work comes from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and NASA.

The team used in situ X-ray micro-computed tomography, known as micro-CT, combined with AI-trained models. They heated samples of superlight ablator materials called SLA-220 and SLA-561V to 1,652 degrees Fahrenheit, or 900 degrees Celsius.

Instead of comparing samples only before and after heating, the researchers captured the entire degradation process in time-lapse 3D images. They watched chemical reactions and changes in porosity as they happened.

Researcher Vishnu Oruganti, now at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, said the technique helps visualise the internal structural changes that drive ablation as it occurs.

The approach has already been used to study materials for NASA’s Artemis missions and spacecraft designed for Mars entry. The findings were published in the journal npj Materials Degradation.