During the investigation, NASA replicated the charring and cracking after engineers devised a test procedure to expose Avcoat heat shield material to the actual conditions of the Artemis I reentry.

After nearly two years spent analyzing samples of the charred material, NASA concluded that the Orion project team had overestimated the heat flow as the craft skimmed the atmosphere upon reentry.

An innovative approach for fully reusable spacecraft suggests making them "sweat" to survive the scorching heat during reentry to Earth's atmosphere, allowing them to land ready for another flight.

During the Artemis 1 re-entry, more charred material separated from the heat shield than computer models predicted. While the unexpected "liberation" had no impact on the spacecraft — NASA said ...

NASA also shared that it had identified the issue with the heat shield material, which was that gases were building up in a layer of material called Avcoat and could not escape, causing the ...

After nearly two years spent analyzing samples of the charred material, NASA concluded that the Orion project team had overestimated the heat flow as the craft skimmed the atmosphere upon reentry.

NASA reported after Artemis I returned to Earth that the vehicle's heat shield had experienced an unexpected loss of charred material. NASA intended to use this same material for future crewed ...

and its heat shield endured temperatures above 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Although NASA engineers had anticipated that some charring would occur, more of the shield’s ablative material came off ...

To prepare the 50-pound probe — which will also track weather patterns on the uber-acidic world — for the intense heat of ... planet, NASA is applying a brown woven material that can protect ...