Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

With Artemis II headed home tonight there's lots of discussion of the heat shield and whether it's really safe after the unexpected damage seen on Artemis 1. So, here's the whole story on how the heat shield got selected, manufactured, improved and then redesigned.

Follow me on Twitter for more updates:
twitter.com/DJSnM

I have a discord server where I regularly turn up:
discord.gg/zStmKbM

If you really like what I do you can support me directly through Patreon
patreon.com/scottmanley