When Artemis 2 came blazing back to Earth on April 10, all eyes were on the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield. This critical hardware, designed to protect the capsule and its crew from the extreme temperatures of atmospheric reentry, didn’t perform as expected during the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission. But this time, it proved itself. After conducting an initial review of the heat shield, NASA confirmed Monday that it “performed as expected, with no unusual conditions identified.” Underwater photographs taken after splashdown, followed by inspections aboard the recovery ship, showed the abnormal charring that occurred during Artemis 1 was “significantly reduced, both in terms of quantity and size.” NASA will continue to assess the heat shield’s performance over the coming weeks, but these early findings clearly show a significant improvement between Artemis 1 and Artemis 2.…