Michel Bozgounov 🇺🇦 🇪🇺Apr 13
Daniel Pomarède

NASA astronaut Christina Koch hugs the Orion spacecraft in the well deck of USS John P. Murtha.

Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

https://flic.kr/p/2s7aCi3

#Artemis #ChristinaKoch #Orion #spacecraft #orionspacecraft #space #science #news #NASA #astrodon #photography #Artemis2

Apr 13 at 4:34amMastodon for Android
Show threadJoureiApr 13
@pomarede Anyone know how the apparent scratches happened?
Show threadImran Nazar ~ عمران نزرApr 13

@Jourei @pomarede The scratches are intentional, as the heat of re-entry attacks the heatshield and parts of it get too hot to remain intact. From Maciej Cegłowski:

"The Avcoat material is not designed to come out in chunks. It is supposed to char and flake off smoothly, maintaining the overall contours of the heat shield."

There was an issue with the Artemis I test flight where the heatshield came away in chunks instead of flaking and scratching away, and Cegłowski argued this flight shouldn't go ahead.

This photo is the first thing I've seen which assuages that concern: looks like the material performed nominally.

Show threadJoureiApr 13
@Two9A Thanks! The scratches are so linear it felt a bit too systemic to be from the descent, that's cool.
Show threadHe Who RemainsApr 13

@Jourei @Two9A Yep, the agency concluded that it could ensure the safety of its crew by tweaking the flight path instead, altered the mission profile — the whole reentry profile is very different than Artemis I.

For Artemis II, Orion won't skip as high as its predecessor did on reentry; instead, it will make a little "loft" movement. The spacecraft will come in at a steeper angle and spend less time in the part of the atmosphere where the problems with Artemis I occurred.

Show threadAlexander The 1stApr 13
@Jourei @Two9A I presume you didn't mean it this way, but it now makes me wonder if Artemis 3 does a "Lander test" the same way Apollo 10 did, and does it at the original Apollo 11 site simply to prove that yes, there are indications that we landed there back in the day.
Show threadurigApr 13
@pomarede eu! don't touch that it's been to space.
Show threadurigApr 13
The Andromeda Strain is still heavily etched into my mind.
Show threadEyeApr 13

@pomarede

Lovely photo! And thank you for posting their roles in this mission. I'd been wondering 👍

Show threadJoshApr 13
@pomarede
What a photo, I'm getting a bit emotional seeing it!
Show threadDeborah Preuss, pcc 🇨🇦Apr 13
@pomarede @rayckeith this photo is strangely moving. This crew so openly loved everyone (and. Apparently, everything! ☺).