Orion is facing the biggest test ever — a nailbiting, ‘will it work’ skip-entry return to Earth. The male mind is not the engine behind this scientific strategy. Mother Nature shows the way

In fact, the stone-skipping return is one of the most important examples to date of biomimicry or ‘science inspired by nature’. In the AOC link, is a fantastic TED Talk by Janine Benyus, founder of the biomimicry movement.

Orion will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 24,500 mph and then bounce off the Earth’s upper atmosphere like a stone skipping across water. This re-entry plan has several key benefits, including bleeding off speed and reducing the G-Force that Artemis astronauts in the future will experience.