When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.The Orion capsule’s heat shield was a big topic of discussion during the Artemis 2 moon mission, and for good reason: It was the key component of the spacecraft that kept the crew safe when they reentered Earth’s atmosphere.The trajectory the Artemis 2 astronauts flew when Orion returned was different from the path taken by the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission’s Orion spacecraft in late 2022. Unexpectedly high degrees of charring on Orion’s heat shield during that mission led engineers to
