May 21, 2026 - UK and the Artemis Project

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 26, 2026) — When NASA’s Artemis II mission sent four astronauts on a path around the moon — farther from Earth than any humans have traveled in decades — the world watched in awe. 

Yet, one of the most critical parts of the journey remained invisible. 

For a team of faculty, staff and students in the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering at University of Kentucky, that unseen work is their expertise. 

Artemis II shows how research — right here in Kentucky — is helping address one of human spaceflight’s most dangerous challenges: surviving the fiery return to Earth. 

“Whatever energy you have coming back from the moon has to go somewhere,” Alexandre Martin, Ph.D., professor of aerospace engineering and director of the Kentucky Space Grant Consortium and NASA EPSCoR programs, said.  “And most of it becomes heat. Without a heat shield, there is no safe return.” 

On this edition of “Behind the Blue,” three UK researchers share how their work made the “Mission to the Moon” possible — offering an inside look at the innovation behind heat shield technology and the role UK plays in advancing it. 

You’ll hear from Martin, Savio Poovathingal, and Michael Renfro about why re-entry is so challenging, how UK’s research helped explain what NASA saw after Artemis I, and how students are central to this work, from lab analysis to flight-testing materials in UK-led capsule projects.

Learn more about UK’s aerospace programs and their role in advancing space exploration at engr.uky.edu/undergraduate/aerospace-engineering.  

“Behind the Blue” is available via a variety of podcast providers, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Subscribe to receive new episodes each week, featuring UK’s latest medical breakthroughs, research, artists, writers and the most important news impacting the university. 

“Behind the Blue” is a joint production of the University of Kentucky and UK HealthCare. Transcripts for this or other episodes of “Behind the Blue” can be downloaded from the show’s blog page. 

To discover how the University of Kentucky is advancing our Commonwealth, click here. 

This interview has been edited for time and clarity.

This research was supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) award numbers 80NSSC22M0034 and 80NSSC22M0174, awarded to the University of Kentucky. 

The material is based upon work supported by NASA under award Nos. 80NSSC21K0286, 80NSSC21K1117 and 80NSSC20M0047. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.