This status report includes my current assessment of the project status as of the date this article was written. The statement of work includes the following tasks:Task 1: Formulate a project plan to prioritize the objectives and determine a time-table for completion.Task 2: Research possible material candidates for the heat shield.Task 3: Acquire estimates about the re-entry conditions for a potential flight path for the capsule.Task 4: Obtain access the high fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Material Response (MR) codes to simulate actual conditions for the actual validation process.