The heat shield that protected the Artemis II astronauts after the Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. | Photo by U.S. Navy

NASA has released an underwater photo showing the heat shield that protected the Artemis II crew as they successfully reentered Earth’s atmosphere.

The heat shield was one of the most talked-about parts of the Orion spacecraft, with some wondering whether it was up to the job after the heat shield onboard the uncrewed Artemis I mission showed signs of charring.

The charred heat shield from Artemis I. | Photo by NASA

But NASA released a photo of the Artemis II heat shield on Monday that shows it to be in good condition after protecting the crew as their spaceship traveled almost 35 times the speed of sound during reentry.

“Diver imagery of the spacecraft’s heat shield initially taken after splashdown and further inspections on the recovery ship found the char loss behavior observed on Artemis I was significantly reduced, both in terms of quantity and…