Aerospace America
AIAA's magazine; broke Orion heat shield technical details.
Last refreshed: 3 April 2026
What did Aerospace America reveal about Orion's heat shield?
Latest on Aerospace America
- Who reported on the Orion heat shield problems?
- Aerospace America, the AIAA magazine, reported technical details on heat shield charring that NASA did not publicly disclose.Source: Lowdown briefing coverage
- What is Aerospace America?
- The monthly magazine of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, covering aerospace engineering and policy.Source: AIAA organisational records
- Is Aerospace America a peer-reviewed journal?
- No, it is journalism by technically trained writers, not a peer-reviewed academic journal.Source: AIAA organisational records
Background
Aerospace America is the monthly magazine of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the largest professional society for aerospace engineers and scientists. Its reporting on the Artemis II heat shield investigation provided technical detail absent from NASA's own public disclosures.
Founded in 1963 when the AIAA formed from the merger of the American Rocket Society and the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences, the magazine covers propulsion, materials science, policy, and defence aerospace. It is peer-adjacent rather than peer-reviewed: its journalists have technical backgrounds and access to programme engineers that general media lack.
In the Artemis context, Aerospace America broke details on Orion's heat shield charring pattern and the unpublished findings of NASA's Independent Review Board. Its coverage is a primary source for technical programme risk that NASA's public affairs office does not voluntarily disclose.