All eyes on Orion’s heat shield: Artemis 2 astronauts will hit Earth’s atmosphere at nearly 24,000 mph on April 10
By Keith Cooper
Published on April 9, 2026.
NASA's Artemis 2 mission has completed the round moon, taking astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen farther from Earth than any other astronauts. The final 100 miles of their 695,081-mile journey are potentially the most dangerous, as Orion's Orion capsule will enter Earth's atmosphere at nearly 24,000 mph (38,367 kph) at around 75 miles (120 km) above Earth at an estimated 23,840 mph. The capsule will then be hit by a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on April 10. Once in the atmosphere, the capsule will be engulfed in a fireball and its descent will be rough and tumble, with communications with ground control cut off for a brief period. The recovery teams will be deployed as U.S. Navy rescue helicopters from the USS John Murtha will perform search and rescue operations. The mission's heat shield is made from a titanium base covered in 186 blocks of a heat-resistant material called Avcoat, which prevents the capsule from burning up due to high temperatures and reduces the effectiveness of the heat shield. If successful, the crew will be retrieved from their capsule and its crew module.
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