NASA’s Orion spacecraft is about to face its final test—and it’s a big one

TL;DR

"Reentry is our priority-one objective for a reason," said Mike Sarafin, who leads the Artemis I mission management team.A new designNASA tested a boilerplate version of the Orion spacecraft in December 2014, launching it to an altitude of nearly 6,000 km.The Orion vehicle flown during the EFT-1 mission featured the same basic ablative material, an epoxy known as AVCOAT that was also used by the Apollo capsules during their returns from the Moon half a century ago.There are 186 different molded blocks on the bottom of Orion, a veritable jigsaw puzzle to cover the bottom of the 5-meter-wide spacecraft.However, unlike with Orion's heat shield, NASA officials believe they have adequately characterized the risk for the parachutes through an extensive test campaign."

Like summarized versions? Support us on Patreon!