2024-05-03 15:13:18
The thermal protection underneath the Orion capsule was severely damaged before its return to sea on December 11, 2022. NASA/Regan Geeseman / NASA/Regan Geeseman
DECRYPTION – An internal NASA report reveals the extent of the damage suffered by the thermal protection of the American spacecraft Orion, which was unoccupied for its first test flight at the end of 2022.
On December 11, 2022, after a long 25-day flight that took it around the Moon, NASA’s Orion capsule landed gently at sea, slowed down by large parachutes. Although no astronauts flew on board, this Artemis 1 mission remained an important success for NASA, restoring confidence in its ability to send astronauts back to the Moon. But the flight also revealed several serious problems that absolutely must be resolved before future flights, an independent investigation led by American experts said this week. The NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) is a completely independent audit service, which can take up any subject on its own and produce reports that are sometimes very critical of the federal agency.
The most serious anomaly recorded in this report released on May 1 concerns the thermal protection shield of the Orion capsule. Large fragments were torn off during the descent into the atmosphere…
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