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NASA is launching a manned moon mission in 2026. UK researchers are helping ensure its shields can take the heat

University of Kentucky
University of Kentucky

Researchers at the University of Kentucky's College of Engineering are playing a role in ensuring the safety of spacecraft used in NASA's Artemis program.

If you hadn't heard, NASA is on its way back to the moon — or in the process anyway.

The Artemis program is being tested in phases. The first, launched in 2022, sent an unmanned craft around the moon and back to earth, where it re-entered the atmosphere protected by its heat shield.

That's where UK researchers came in. Dr. Savio Poovathingal in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering says there were partial failures in that shield.

"After Artemis I, there was a two year. investigation into what happened to the heat shield," he explains. "And so we were part of that effort."

Without getting technical, UK researchers looked into a gas buildup within the heat shield, which caused pieces of material to break off. No small issue, as you might imagine.

"When the capsule is coming back from space, they get really hot — so think like a shooting star, which is burning up in the atmosphere. The same thing would happen to a space capsule if there were no heat shield," Poovathingal says.

The UK team — already-schooled in the subject — set about understanding the problem with the shield and improving tools and practices, which could contribute to the safety of Artemis II, which will send a manned spacecraft around the moon without landing in 2026.

That will pave the way for the first manned landing on the moon by NASA since the Apollo era.

Read more about UK's involvement in NASA and heat shield research here.

Josh James fell in love with college radio at Western Kentucky University's student station, New Rock 92 (now Revolution 91.7). After working as a DJ and program director, he knew he wanted to come home to Lexington and try his hand in public radio.