POLYMERIZED SILOXANES COMMONLY KNOWN SILICONES ARE CRITICAL COMPONENTS IN THE INTEGRATION OF LIGHTWEIGHT HEATSHIELDS USED TO PROTECT NASA EXPLORATION SYSTEMS DURING ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY. A SILICONE FORMULATION DESIGNATED NUSIL CV-1144-0 WAS APPLIED AS SPRAYED COATING ON THE PHENOLIC IMPREGNATED CARBON ABLATOR (PICA) OF THE MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY (MSL). THE COATING WAS USED AS A CONTAMINATION CONTROL TO MINIMIZE THE PARTICULATE MATTER SHEDDING FROM PICA DURING CLEAR-ROOM OPERATIONS. NUSIL HAD NO ADVERSE EFFECT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE THERMAL PROTECTION SYSTEM BUT ALTERED THE NEAR-SURFACE RESPONSE OF PICA DURING ENTRY. RTV-560 A SPACE GRADE ROOM-TEMPERATURE VULCANIZING SILICONE IS NASA S SELECTED MATERIAL USED AS GAP FILLER AND BONDING AGENT DURING THE INTEGRATION OF TILED ABLATIVE HEATSHIELDS. THE INTERFACE BETWEEN PICA TILES IN THE MSL THERMAL PROTECTION SYSTEM IS A NOTABLE EXAMPLE OF RTV-560 SILICONE APPLICATION. NO DESIGN AND ANALYSIS SIMULATIONS OF PICA HEATSHIELDS TO DATE HAS INCLUDED MODELS FOR SILICONE COATINGS OR GAP FILLERS. WITHIN THIS EFFORT WE PROPOSE TO PERFORM A SERIES OF EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL ANALYSES TO UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL PHENOMENA THAT CHARACTERIZE THE RESPONSE OF SILICONE COMPONENTS INTEGRATED IN PICA HEATSHIELDS. THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE CRITICAL DATA TO ENABLE THE UPGRADE OF ABLATOR RESPONSE MODELS FOR PICA TO ACCOUNT FOR SILICONE-RELATED EFFECTS. THIS IS A CRITICAL STEP TO REVISIT PRIOR ANALYSIS OF MEDLI INSTRUMENTATION DATA AND TO SUPPORT THE DESIGN OF MEDLI-2 SENSOR SUITE FOR THE FORTHCOMING MARS 2020 MISSION.