The crew of Artemis II is in the final hours of a 10-day voyage to the far side of the moon and back, and is scheduled to splash down into the Pacific Ocean at around 8 p.m. EST.
But to do so, the four-person crew will have to survive what might be the most dangerous part of the mission: reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere at a mind-bending 25,000 miles per hour under the protection of a slightly modified, yet to be tested heat shield, designed to absorb and shed extreme heat during reentry. As the capsule slams through the atmosphere, temperatures outside can soar to nearly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit — hot enough to melt steel.
Read more at Northeastern Global News
Photo by NASA
