It turns out that Orion's much-maligned heat shield performed really well
Summary
NASA's Artemis II mission successfully used its heat shield to protect the spacecraft during reentry into Earth's atmosphere after orbiting the Moon. The heat shield performed better than in the previous mission, with fewer damaged areas and gave NASA confidence for future lunar missions.Key Facts
- Artemis II mission included a spacecraft named Orion returning safely from around the Moon.
- The heat shield protects the spacecraft by charring (burning the outer layer) to absorb heat during reentry.
- In a previous test flight (Artemis I), the heat shield lost large chunks and showed over 100 damaged sites.
- Artemis II’s heat shield had only about nine damaged sites, a significant improvement.
- The heat shield is made of 186 blocks of Avcoat, a material that prevents heat damage.
- NASA changed the spacecraft’s reentry path to reduce the time it spent heating up, helping the heat shield perform better.
- The new reentry path reduced the spacecraft’s possible landing area distance (downrange capability) from 4,800 to 1,775 nautical miles.
- NASA plans to use a more breathable Avcoat material in future missions to avoid heat shield damage and increase landing options.
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