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April 9th, 2026
Wait-a-Minute!
Image credit: Barbara David
As the four-person Artemis II crew heads back to Earth, there’s a heavy breathing, nail-bitter ahead.
It is a wait-a-minute moment regarding the Orion spacecraft heat shield.
The high-speed, safe return to Earth from lunar distance of the Artemis II crew depends on the thermal protection system of Orion’s crew module. It must endure blistering temperatures to keep crew members safe.
Artwork depicts Orion spacecraft plowing through Earth’s atmosphere at high speed.
Image credit: NASA
However, following the flight of the uncrewed Artemis I lunar flight test in late 2022, it was found that ablative thermal protective material had unexpectedly chipped away from the Orion heat shield during its plunge through Earth’s atmosphere.
Image credit: NASA OIG
In 2024, NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report – “NASA’s Readiness for the Artemis II Crewed Mission to Lunar Orbit” – calling attention to the heat shield issue.
To read the full report, go to:
https://oig.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ig-24-011.pdf
Post-flight analysis
In a post-flight analysis of the Artemis 1 heat shield, NASA identified more than 100 locations where ablative thermal protective material was liberated during its speedy reentry.
NASA, along with contractors and an independent review team, an investigation was launched to establish the technical cause of the issue. An analysis was done, including over a 100 tests at unique facilities across the country.
Arc Jet Complex at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley has been used to study unexpected heat shield issues found after Orion capsule’s Artemis I flight in 2022.
Image credit: NASA Ames Research Center
Image credit: NASA OIG
That extensive analysis, determined the heat shield on Artemis I did not allow for enough of the gases generated inside a material called Avcoat to escape, which caused some of the material to crack and break off.
For more details how the situation was resolved, go to my past Space.com story — “The Artemis 1 moon mission had a heat shield issue. Here’s why NASA doesn’t think it will happen again on Artemis 2” – at:
Also, go to — “NASA Shares Orion Heat Shield Findings, Slips of Artemis Moon Missions” — at
https://www.leonarddavid.com/nasa-shares-orion-heat-shield-findings-slips-of-artemis-moon-missions/
Fingers crossed!
Wait-a-Minute!
Image credit: Barbara David
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