Aerospace America
AIAA's magazine; broke Orion heat shield technical details.
Aerospace America, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' monthly magazine, broke details of Orion's heat shield charring pattern from Artemis I that NASA's own public affairs office had not disclosed as Artemis II flew on 10 April 2026.
Last refreshed: 22 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
What did Aerospace America reveal about Orion's heat shield?
Timeline for Aerospace America
Mentioned in: Orion Flies on an Unrepaired Heat Shield
Artemis II Moon MissionBackground
Aerospace America is the monthly magazine of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, founded in 1963 when the AIAA formed from the merger of the American Rocket Society and the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences. It covers propulsion, materials Science, policy and defence aerospace for the largest professional society of aerospace engineers and scientists.
Its journalists have technical backgrounds and direct access to programme engineers that general-interest media typically lack, making the title peer-adjacent rather than peer-reviewed. In the Artemis II heat shield investigation, that access let it report on Orion's charring pattern and the unpublished findings of NASA's Independent Review Board, technical detail absent from NASA's own disclosures .
Within the aerospace industry, AIAA publications are regarded as technically literate and non-sensational, and outlets such as AP and Reuters have cited Aerospace America when reporting details beyond their own in-house expertise, giving it an outsized role as a primary source for technical programme risk that agencies would otherwise manage more quietly.