Mike Baker

During the earlier Artemis 1 mission, which flew the same Orion design without a crew, engineers found unexpected damage on the heat shield after splashdown.

Chunks of material had broken off instead of burning away evenly.

NASA says it understands what caused that issue.

Gas buildup inside the material, creating pressure that led to cracking, and has adjusted the reentry path of Artemis 2 to reduce the stress on the shield.

In simple terms, they're bringing the capsule in faster and steeper, limiting how long it's exposed to peak heat.

NASA officials say they're confident the system will hold, but apparently not everyone agrees.

Some former NASA engineers and astronauts warn the agency still doesn't fully understand how that heat shield behaves under these conditions, and that there's no backup system if it fails.

If the shield were to break down too quickly, the structure beneath it could overheat, weaken, and ultimately fail.

Now, to be clear, NASA's analysis suggests there is still a significant safety margin, and the crew themselves had been involved in the process every step of the way.

Again, the crew will be returning tonight, a little after 8 p.m.

Eastern Time.

Godspeed.

We'll be watching, hoping, and praying for their safe return.

And that, my friends, is the President's Daily Brief for Friday, the 10th of April.

Now, if you have any questions or comments, and I hope you do, please reach out to me at pdbatthefirsttv.com.

Now, given that it's Friday, and it most definitely is Friday, that can only mean one thing.

That I'm about to remind you that a new episode of our extended weekend show, the PDB Situation Report, is set to hit the airwaves this evening at 10 p.m.

on the First TV.

As always, you can find it also and past episodes on our YouTube channel at President's Daily Brief and, of course, on podcast platforms everywhere.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB Afternoon Bulletin.