THAT’S ODD: NASA finds, but does not disclose, root cause of Orion heat shield erosion.

Asked about the status of the heat shield at an Oct. 28 meeting of the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG) in Houston, Lori Glaze, acting deputy associate administrator in NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, said those reviews had determined what caused the additional char loss.

“We have conclusive determination of what the root cause is of the issue,” she said. “We have been able to demonstrate and reproduce it in the arc jet facilities out at Ames.” The Arc Jet Complex at NASA’s Ames Research Center can reproduce the heating conditions seen on reentry.

However, she declined to identify what that root cause is. “I’m not going to share right now,” she said when asked about it. “When it comes out, it will all come out together.”

Another NASA official confirmed that in a panel discussion at the American Astronautical Society’s von Braun Space Exploration Symposium here later the same day.

“We have gotten to a root cause. We are having conversations within the agency to make sure we have we have a good understanding of what’s going on not only with the heat shield but also next steps in how that actually applies to Artemis 2,” said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator in the Moon to Mars office. She also declined to identify the specific root cause.

My guess is that whatever the root cause is, the fix is going to be time-consuming and/or expensive. Or maybe Orion is good to go with the existing heat shield, although you’d think NASA would crow about that.

Whatever the case, secrecy isn’t a good look for a program as troubled as Artemis is.