And this: "[G]radual wearing away of the vehicle’s skin as it reached stress tolerance limits was expected. However, larger than anticipated portions of the vehicle’s skin peeled from the aerostructure."
And, dated: April 20, 2012
And, dated: April 20, 2012
Its a standard way both hyper sonic and reentry vehicles manage heat. Basically the skin boils off creating a pressure wave that the vehicle flights behind.
Wikipedia has a good description of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_reentry#Ablative