In the first phase of testing, a total of seven hypervelocity impact (HVI) experiments were performed to assess the response of the Mars Module Shield (MMS) concepts. The baseline MMS was capable of withstanding projectile impacts of aluminum spheres measuring up to 6.35 mm in diameter, each traveling about 6.5 km/s and impacting normal to the target.

Further research was performed to investigate the effect of the heavy RTV adhesive used to bond the layers of the MMS together. In two separate experiments, the RTV was omitted from the target configuration. In both cases, it was observed that a 4.76 mm projectile was sufficient to fail the modified MMS shield. Clearly, the RTV layers improved the HVI performance of the shield. Because the RTV is not considered to be part of the overall shield design, further HVI testing is warranted using targets more closely approximating flight hardware, without the RTV coatings.