At an Aug. 29 meeting of the NASA Advisory Council’s human exploration and operations committee, Amit Kshatriya, deputy associate administrator for the Moon to Mars Program, said an independent review team has completed its analysis of the heat shield erosion but did not provide additional details.
Asked about the status of the heat shield at an Oct. 28 meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) in Houston, Lori Glaze, acting deputy associate administrator in NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said those reviews had determined what caused the additional char loss.NASA finds, but does not disclose, root cause of Orion heat shield erosion
Jeff Foust October 29, 2024
". . .“We have gotten to a root cause. We are having conversations within the agency to make sure we have we have a good understanding of what’s going on not only with the heat shield but also next steps in how that actually applies to Artemis 2,”--said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator in the Moon to Mars office.
- She also declined to identify the specific root cause.
Glaze said that NASA was performing additional testing to study ways to mitigate the heat shield loss for Artemis 2. “We know what needs to be done for future missions, but the Artemis 2 heat shield is already built, so how do we assure astronaut safety with Artemis 2?”- She said the testing would be complete by the end of November.
- “We then anticipate discussions with the administrator, who will make the final decision on how to proceed,” she said.
- “We’re moving as quickly as it possibly can move, and there will be decisions forthcoming.”
Hawkins said she expected NASA to provide more details on the heat shield problem and plans for Artemis 2 “hopefully before the end of the year.”
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