NASA analysis finds Artemis II heat shield char loss lower than Artemis I by a factor of ten

15 October 2026

NASA says analysis of the Artemis II heat shield has confirmed its performance, with cracking and char loss reduced by a factor of ten relative to Artemis I. Engineers found nine char loss spots on the Artemis II shield against 103 on Artemis I. The shield is made of 186 blocks of Avcoat, an ablative material, and the reentry trajectory was changed after Artemis I to shorten the maximum downrange distance and limit time in the temperature range linked to the earlier char loss. Peak reentry speed reached 39 times the speed of sound and external temperatures exceeded 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, while cabin temperature stayed in the mid seventies Fahrenheit. The four astronauts flew around the Moon and splashed down on 10 April 2026 in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, landing 0.59 miles from the predicted site. The backshell of 1,300 ceramic tiles performed as expected, and the shield has been moved to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for sample extraction and internal X-ray scans.