Artemis II pilot talks about what it was really like to fly and land in Orion

Artemis II pilot's raw account of flying and landing NASA's Orion spacecraft offers the most intense first-person perspective of lunar-return since Apollo 17. Calling it “the most intense ride of my life,” the pilot describes 8 minutes of sustained 4-G forces during reentry—a 20% higher peak than the average Soyuz return. This narrative outperforms #2's Apollo remembrances in immediacy, detailing precise control inputs at Mach 30 and a landing within 200 meters of the target zone. The pilot's 37 years of flight experience shaped a calm response to a 2,760°C heat shield blaze, providing data that will refine future Artemis mission protocols.