Artemis II Rehash: Is the Heat Shield Safe? How NASA is Managing Risk with Exploration

 

This came up before the launch of Artemis II because of issues with re-entry with Artemis I. It has been discussed and shown that it is safe as this article shows. However, because I've seen a couple of posts rehashing safety on social media, I want to return to this issue.

The Artemis II mission marks a historic milestone—the first time humans have traveled toward the Moon in over 50 years. While the mission is inherently dangerous, NASA’s approach isn't about achieving absolute "safety," but about meticulously managing risk. L:et me state, there is ALWAYS risk when humans head into space. How grateful we should be for those willing to be the pathfinders for us to lead the way to the stars! NASA has done extensive research and gotten outside reviews to ensure that the four astronauts are as safe as they can be for their journey home! 

The full article is over at Eadsy Astronomy LINK. 

Artemis II Solar Eclipse Shorten Videos

 

These are shorten videos of the Solar Eclipse that the crew of Integrity/Artemis II experienced yesterday. I've shorten them so you can more easily observe them and will include a few images as well. 

Beginning of Eclipse after Sun is behind the Moon. 

Totality from the Solar Panel on Integrity with Venus in the upper left. 

The Sun reimerging from behind the Moon with Victor Glover's observations/sitreps. 

NASA Artemis II Lunar Flyby and Solar Eclipse Images from April 6th, 2026

 

These are not my images, they are from NASA. You can get them yourself at this LINK, or at images.nasa.gov. I just thought I'd share them since I think they are pretty amazing! Can I say I look forward to doing a practice lunar sketch of Orientale Basin and I'll do that as a Live Event sometime after new moon.

I have this over at Eadsy Astronomy at this LINK. Consider becoming a member over there if you want to get email notificaitions of my posts.