The Big Question: How did Artemis II survive its most dangerous six minutes?

Artemis II's most dangerous moment wasn't launch, it was the return to Earth. Traveling at nearly 24,000 miles per hour, the crew faced extreme heat, intense G-forces, and a six-minute communications blackout as plasma surrounded the capsule. With only inches of protection and no room for error, everything depended on precise calculations. After a high-risk reentry and parachute deployment, the astronauts finally splashed down safely, proving that, this time, the math worked.