The heat shield on Orion was tested during the uncrewed Artemis I mission and experienced an anomaly during reentry. As the Orion spacecraft reenters the atmosphere this evening, the Avcoat heat shield will be essential to the safety of the crew. Although NASA is confident the splashdown will occur safely as planned, some experts disagree. …
Scientists find lithium cloud left by reentry of SpaceX rocket
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket made an uncontrolled reentry over Europe, creating a visible fireball last year. Using a specialized laser instrument called a resonance lidar, scientists in northern Germany detected a 10-fold spike in lithium atoms at about 96 kilometers altitude, roughly 20 hours after the rocket burned up. They published their findings in…