Super Guppy Arrives in Alabama to Drop Off Artemis I Heat Shield (video)
NASA’s Super Guppy arrives in Alabama on Nov. 6, 2023, carrying the heat shield that protected Orion’s crew module during its flight on Artemis I. The one-of-a-kind, turboprop-powered aircraft ferried the heat shield from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Huntsville Regional Airport for transport to the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Technicians at […]
Credits: NASA
NASA’s Super Guppy arrives in Alabama on Nov. 6, 2023, carrying the heat shield that protected Orion’s crew module during its flight on Artemis I. The one-of-a-kind, turboprop-powered aircraft ferried the heat shield from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Huntsville Regional Airport for transport to the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Technicians at Marshall will use the center’s specialized milling tool to remove the heat shield’s outer layer of ablative material, a protective coating called Avcoat, as part of routine post-flight analysis.
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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is America’s civil space program and the global leader in space exploration. The agency has a diverse workforce of just under 18,000 civil servants, and works with many more U.S. contractors, academia, and international and commercial partners to explore, discover, and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity.
