{"id":13316,"date":"2025-01-06T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=13316"},"modified":"2024-12-16T07:14:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T07:14:49","slug":"nasa-crew-capsule-heat-shield-issues-artemis-i-expert-analysis-january-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/nasa-crew-capsule-heat-shield-issues-artemis-i-expert-analysis-january-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s crew capsule had heat shield issues during Artemis I \u2212 an aerospace expert on these critical spacecraft components"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n Marcos Fernandez Tous<\/a>, University of North Dakota<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Off the coast of Baja California in December 2022, sun sparkled over the rippling sea as waves sloshed around the USS Portland dock ship. Navy officials on the deck scrutinized the sky in search of a sign. The glow appeared suddenly. <\/p>\n\n

A tiny spot at first, it gradually grew to a round circle falling at a great speed from the fringes of space. It was NASA\u2019s Orion capsule<\/a>, which would soon end the 25-day Artemis I mission<\/a> around and beyond the Moon with a fiery splashdown<\/a> into the ocean. <\/p>\n\n

Orion\u2019s reentry followed a sharply angled trajectory, during which the capsule fell at an incredible speed before deploying three red and white parachutes. As the mission finished its trip of over 270,000 miles (435,000 kilometers), it looked to those on the deck of the USS Portland like the capsule had made it home in a single piece.<\/p>\n\n

As the recovery crew lifted Orion to the carrier\u2019s deck, shock waves ruffled across the capsule\u2019s surface. That\u2019s when crew members started to spot big cracks on Orion\u2019s lower surface, where the capsule\u2019s exterior bonds to its heat shield. <\/p>\n\n

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