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Orion Cleared for Re-entry With No Concerns

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15:28UTC

All four crew tested orthostatic intolerance compression garments on Day 8 while engineers completed final Orion inspections with no concerns ahead of tomorrow's re-entry.

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ScienceDeveloping

Key takeaway

Orion passed final inspections with no concerns, and the crew is preparing physically for re-entry.

Engineers completed final Orion inspections on Day 8 with no concerns reported ahead of tomorrow's re-entry ¹. All four crew members tested orthostatic intolerance compression garments, standard cardiovascular preparation for returning to Earth gravity after nine days in microgravity ².

The inspections follow the trajectory established by the Day 5 correction burn , which ran 3.5 seconds longer than planned but placed Orion inside tolerance for the lofted return. Two earlier outbound burns were cancelled entirely because the path was already within acceptable parameters.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Before a spacecraft re-enters Earth's atmosphere, engineers check everything they can check while the vehicle is still in space. On Day 8, NASA's engineers ran those final inspections and found no issues. The crew also tested compression garments — basically specialised stockings that squeeze the legs and abdomen to help blood circulation, because nine days floating in zero gravity weakens the body's ability to manage blood pressure when gravity returns. Both the ship and the crew are cleared.

What could happen next?

A clean final inspection after seven documented anomalies strengthens the case that Orion's anomaly management procedures are adequate for the current mission profile.

Sources:NASA·CBS News

Mentions:Artemis II →Artemis I →Orion →Reid Wiseman →Victor Glover →Christina Koch →NASA →Jeremy Hansen →

First Reported In

Update #7 · Orion Faces the Heat Shield It Fixed

NASA· 9 Apr 2026

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