A heat shield has to deflect and absorb the energy created by the plasma. At 3,500 degrees, the shield gets hot enough to glow, but Musk said "due to the Crew Dragon's asymmetric design ...

“But on the way down, it’s all the heat shield ... but all four crew members technically took part because the Dragon capsule does not have an airlock. That meant that when the hatch ...

Stunning first visuals captured on camera, marking the culmination of a historic journey, as SpaceX's Dragon Freedom began its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere ...