US EditionArtemis II's last test: Will its heat shield work?
NASA says testing and analysis show the shield can protect Artemis II astronauts after the Artemis I design flaw caused cracking in more than 100 places.
- On Friday, April 10, 2026, NASA's Artemis II crew returns to Earth, concluding a 10-day lunar mission with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The return marks a critical test of the Orion spacecraft's heat shield.
- Unexpected charring and cracks appeared on the Orion spacecraft's heat shield during the 2022 Artemis I mission, with large chunks of Avcoat material separating during reentry. This prompted NASA to undergo extensive analysis of the flawed design.
- NASA modified the reentry trajectory to a 'shorter skip' to mitigate heat exposure, though former astronaut Danny Olivas called the shield 'deviant.' NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman maintains confidence in the engineering team's analysis.
- While officials cite a 'reasonable safety margin,' critics worry the agency relies on luck rather than redundancy. With no backup system, the crew faces a 13-minute silent return through Earth's atmosphere at 25,000 miles per hour.
- NASA plans to alter the billet mold loading to produce a more permeable heat shield for future Artemis missions. Tonight's successful return would validate current operational mitigations for deeper space exploration.
12 Articles
12 Articles
There are 'reasons to be confident' about faulty Artemis II heat shield ahead of 25,000 mph reentry, space expert Ed Macaulay says
NASA's Artemis II heat shield is about to face its ultimate test as the Orion crew prepares for reentry. Physics and data science lecturer Ed Macaulay tells Live Science reasons to be confident ahead of today's historic splashdown.
Heat shield chunks fell off Artemis I — NASA uses same material for Artemis II anyway
After successfully completing their mission to the Moon, the Artemis II crew is about to return to Earth.The four astronauts set a new record for how far humans have travelled from Earth, reaching a maximum distance of 406,771 kilometres from our home planet.Their journey back will culminate in a hi...
The Artemis crew must hope that the heat shield holds. Iran war has unwanted side effects. And the energy crisis causes trouble in coalition and cabinet. That's the situation on Friday night.
NASA's Artemis program began with the first unmanned mission, Artemis I, in November 2022. This first attempt to send the Orion spacecraft into space served to verify that it was able to perform the necessary maneuvers for which it was designed, as well as to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at high speeds and remain intact. However, after extensive analysis and testing, NASA identified that Orion's thermal shield lost carbonized material during …
All eyes on Orion heat shield ahead of Artemis II landing
When the Orion spacecraft returned from its first lunar trip on the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022, it suffered major damage to the spacecraft’s heat shield coating. That raised the crew safety alarm for Artemis II and ultimately was…
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