NewsBeat
Artemis II live: NASA says it has ‘high confidence’ in heat shield as astronauts prepare for Friday splashdown
NASA leaders have “high confidence” in the Artemis II crew spacecraft’s heat shield ahead of Friday’s historic return.
The shield is a critical part of the Orion capsule, protecting the crew from exposure to lethal temperatures – reaching up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit – during their high-speed descent.
There were problems with the heat shield on the first Artemis flight, which had no human passengers. Gases that generated inside the shield’s outer material were not able to vent as expected, causing cracks.
Since then, the shield has undergone extensive testing and Amit Kshatriya, the space agency’s associate administrator, says his confidence in the tech is backed up by engineering and flight data.
“The engineering supports it, the Artemis I flight data supports it, all of our ground tests support it, our analysis supports it,” he told reporters at a briefing from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, “and tomorrow, the crew’s going to put their lives behind that confidence.”
The astronauts, including NASA’s Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen were said to be in “high spirits” as they started their journey to Earth following a record-breaking slingshot around the Moon.
A splashdown in the Pacific set to conclude their test flight on Friday.
Check out these cool pictures of the moon from the Artemis II mission
Julia Musto9 April 2026 23:45
NASA posts stunning shot from Orion spacecraft
Julia Musto9 April 2026 23:02
Canadian Artemis II crew member Jeremy Hansen discusses science on Orion
Julia Musto9 April 2026 22:34
NASA seeing ‘small leak’ in propulsion system
There is a small leak in the Artemis II propulsion system, Jeff Radigan, the flight director of Artemis II, told reporters on Thursday.
The two-part system uses fuel and an oxidizer: a substance that causes another substance to burn.
“We are seeing what is a small leak in our pressure system,” he said, adding that the “leak is internal to the system, across some of our valves.”
The crew still needs to characterize the leak to see what, if any, modifications they might need to make in the future.
Julia Musto9 April 2026 22:04
‘We are good to go’
“We are good to go,” Branelle Rodriguez, the Artemis II Orion vehicle manager, told reporters on Thursday.
She said that the Orion spacecraft remains “healthy.”
“Everything looks really, really well to continue on,” added Rodriguez.
Julia Musto9 April 2026 21:44
NASA shares Artemis II return times
Jeff Radigan, the flight director of Artemis II, announced several times of note ahead of the Orion crew’s splashdown.
The crew module and service module will separate at 6:33 p.m. local CT. There will be a communications blackout at 6:53 before parachutes deploy at 7:03 p.m.
Splashdown is planned for 7:07 p.m.
Julia Musto9 April 2026 21:06
Every system ‘depends on the final minutes of flight’
“Every system we’ve demonstrated over the past nine days, life support, navigation, propulsion, communications, all of it depends on the final minutes of flight,” Amit Kshatriya, NASA’s associate administrator, said Thursday afternoon.
“We have high confidence in the heat shield and the parachutes and the recovery systems we’ve put together. The engineering supports it, the Artemis I flight data supports it, all of our ground tests support it, our analysis supports it,” he continued, “ and tomorrow, the crew’s going to put their lives behind that confidence.”
“The crew has done their part. Now we have to do our’s,” said Kshatriya.
Julia Musto9 April 2026 20:53
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