Engineers have identified the issue with the Orion spacecraft's heat shield, but NASA isn’t revealing the details yet.

NASA identified more than 100 locations where ablative thermal protective material was liberated during its speedy reentry.

For those who follow NASA's human spaceflight program, when the Orion spacecraft's heat shield cracked and chipped away during atmospheric reentry on the unpiloted Artemis I test flight in late 2022, what caused it became a burning question.

According to Hawkins and Glaze, NASA expects to share more information about Orion's heat shield issue before the end of the year. That means it could be another two months before the agency unveils its secret—but given that we've already waited two years, we suppose we can sit tight a little longer.