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Heading home: The riskiest part of the Artemis II moon mission is still ahead
- On Friday evening, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen return to Earth after 10 days in space, with their Orion capsule beginning atmospheric reentry at approximately 7:53 p.m. ET.
- Following the 2022 Artemis I test flight, investigators discovered unexpected cracking in the Avcoat heat shield after the uncrewed mission, finding that gases failed to vent properly during reentry, allowing pressure to accumulate and damage the material.
- To minimize heat exposure, NASA Flight Director Rick Henfling implemented a steeper 'loft' reentry trajectory for Artemis II; however, former astronaut Charlie Camarda wrote that the design exhibits "patterns that preceded past catastrophes."
- Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya stated mission managers have high confidence in the modified path and that the crew is "putting their lives behind that confidence," though he acknowledged the stakes remain high.
- On future flights including Artemis III, the Orion capsule will feature a redesigned heat shield with more permeable outer material intended to prevent the cracking issues observed during previous missions.
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der Standard DEIn the night on Saturday the delicate landing is on. From the 50:50 chance of survival of the Apollo missions the crew is far away, but in particular one component ensures residual risk
·Vienna, Austria
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The riskiest moments of NASA's Artemis II mission may still be ahead
The astronauts on NASA's Artemis II moon mission are scheduled to land on Earth on Friday. But their re-entry is one of the riskiest parts of the mission, and the Orion spacecraft has known design flaws.
·United States
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The Artemis II astronauts faced numerous dangers during their historic flight to the moon, including a tense takeoff on April 1, as the rocket burned through a million
·Novi Beograd, Serbia
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