Today, April 10 Artemis astronauts will fly through 18,000°F heat on re-entry to Earth



Artemis is about to fly through air hotter than the surface of the Sun...

As Orion returns to Earth, it will slam into the atmosphere at over 25,000 miles per hour (40,000 km/h).

That speed is 40 times faster than a passenger jet. The result? The air in front of the spacecraft will heat to around 18,000°F (10,000°C).

That heat will create plasma that’s so intense it will block radio signals entirely. For several minutes, the crew will be completely cut off from Earth.

It is the most dangerous part of their descent.

Why does this happen? It needs to create this amount of resistance and drag for the astronauts to survive. Instead of slicing smoothly through the air, it deliberately creates drag by putting its flat end angled towards earth to slow down, spreading the deceleration over several minutes and keeping g-forces at survivable levels.

After a 10-day, 425,000-mile (685,000 km) journey around the Moon, everything comes down to this final plunge through fire.

Learn more:
"Artemis II crew will endure 3,000°C on re-entry. A hypersonics expert explains how they will survive." The Conversation

Science