Artemis II: The Next Preventable NASA Fatality? (Jarrah White)

As we close out the week of mourning for the fallen astronauts of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia, I fear that NASA's next spaceflight disaster is soon upon us. Not because of fire or a catastrophic failure during liftoff or reentry, but by recklessness in the flight planning. The internet is alive with concerns over the integrity of Artemis II's heatshield, there is almost nothing about an even greater danger that threatens to doom the crew long before they get a chance to use it. The initial parking orbits proposed for Artemis II completely fly in the face of everything that NASA claimed they did to minimise radiation exposure on Apollo.



The Van Allen radiation belts will likely cook the flight crew unless they fake the mission.

[Posted at the SpookyWeather2 blog, February 22, 2026.]