The engineers' answer to the problem is to redesign the fiberglass honeycomb layer placed on top of the heat shield's titanium/carbon fiber body to make it even stronger. That covering (comprised of 320,000 cells) is meant to disintegrate upon reentry, but it should still be tough enough to protect the capsule and its future passengers on their way home from deep space missions. The good news is that the heat shield isn't one solid structure, and different parts can be manufactured in different places at once. This method won't only save NASA some precious, precious money, but will also shorten the heat shield's manufacturing process by two months.

[Image credit: Lockheed Martin]