US Patent Issued on Oct. 7 for "Atmospheric re-entry vehicle with skewed base heat shield" (Washington Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 8 -- United States Patent no. 12,435,684, issued on Oct. 7.

"Atmospheric re-entry vehicle with skewed base heat shield" was invented by Thomas Ryan McCullough (Seattle) and Thomas Feldman (Kent, Wash.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "An atmospheric re-entry vehicle includes a main body defining a forward end of the vehicle, a base defining an aft end of the vehicle, and a heat shield at the base. The heat shield includes a heat shield outer surface. The main body and the heat shield are configured such that a centerline of the heat shield is offset relative to a centerline of the main body. At least a portion of the heat shield outer surface is at least substantially axisy...