Artemis Moon Missions Hinge on Crucial Reentry Phase

The Artemis program, NASA's ambitious plan to return humans to the Moon, is hinging on one of the most perilous stages of the mission: reentry. Historically, entire space programs have been canceled after a failure in the reentry phase, and the stakes are especially high for Artemis as astronauts will be traveling at a blistering 32 times the speed of sound during their return from the lunar surface.

Reentry is the phase where the spacecraft carrying the astronauts must slow down from its high-velocity orbit and safely touch down on Earth. This process exposes the craft to extreme temperatures, g-forces, and other challenging conditions that have doomed previous space missions. The failure of the Apollo 13 reentry, for example, nearly resulted in the loss of the entire crew.

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For the Artemis II mission, scheduled for 2024, NASA is leaving nothing to chance. The agency has thoroughly tested the Orion spacecraft's heat shield and other critical reentry systems, but the true test will come when astronauts ride the craft back to Earth after their journey around the Moon.