"The Mark 6 was a huge RV, more than ten feet (three meters) long and 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) wide at its base—a grown man could stand beneath it. The nose cap used phenolic nylon (a nylon cloth impregnated with a resin), while the rest of the vehicle used a special plastic. The material was so effective at eliminating heat during the short reentry period that it could be very thin. The nose cap was about two inches (five centimeters) thick, whereas the rest of the heat shield was only a quarter of an inch (6.35 millimeters) thick."
