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Incommunicado, at 40,000 km/h and 2,700 °C: the risks facing the Orion capsule on its re-entry to Earth

Everything is ready for the splashdown of the Orion capsule, after completing the Artemis II mission: the first in the last 53 years with a crew to the Moon and the one that reached the greatest distance from Earth in all of human history.

Incommunicado, at 40,000 km/h and 2,700 °C: the risks facing the Orion capsule on its re-entry to Earth

TL;DR

  • The Orion capsule is preparing for re-entry after the Artemis II mission, which involved a crewed trip to lunar orbit.
  • During re-entry, Orion will reach speeds of 40,000 km/h, causing its surroundings to ionize and create a plasma bubble, leading to a six-minute loss of communication.
  • The capsule's thermal shield protects it from temperatures of 2,700°C, with the service module designed to disintegrate.
  • Artemis II was a test mission for the Orion capsule, paving the way for Artemis III (lander docking) and Artemis IV (lunar landing in 2028).
  • The mission also measured Orion's resistance to deep space radiation.

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