After completing a historic flight around the moon, the Artemis II astronauts are coming home.
The crew—NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen—are set to end a 10-day mission Friday with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean around 8:07 p.m. EDT.
The final stretch of the trip back to Earth is potentially the most dangerous. All eyes will be on the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield.
During reentry, the spacecraft will enter the Earth’s atmosphere at about 25,000 miles per hour, which can cause the capsule’s exterior to heat up.
The Orion’s heat shield is designed to protect the spacecraft and the astronauts from extreme heat. However, the heat shield is similar to the one used for Artemis I, which had damage after returning to Earth.
NASA has altered the spacecraft’s trajectory back to Earth to help reduce the heat stress on the heat shield, and the agency is confident the change is enough to bring the astronauts safely home.
As the crew make their way through the atmosphere, Orion will enter a planned six-minute communications blackout, according to NASA.
At around 8:03 p.m., the spacecraft’s parachutes will deploy with a splashdown expected minutes later.
Recovery teams will use helicopters to retrieve the crew from the Orion within two hours after splashdown.
The crew will be flown to the recovery ship, the USS John P. Murtha, which is already at sea. Once on the ship, the crew will get post-mission medical evaluations.
Artemis II mission timeline
Artemis II launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 1, sending the four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft on a 10-day journey to the moon and back to Earth.
An illustration showing the Artemis II mission. Credit: NASA
- Earth orbit (Day 1): The Artemis II astronauts will orbit Earth for one day to confirm all spacecraft systems are functioning properly.
- To the moon (Days 2–5): Orion’s main engine will fire to propel the capsule out of Earth orbit toward the moon, roughly 244,000 miles (393,000 kilometers) away.
- Moon flyby (Day 6): Orion will reach its farthest point from Earth, passing about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) beyond the moon. Astronauts are expected to document the flyby with cameras and smartphones before heading back to Earth.
- Return (Days 6–9): Using a free-return trajectory, Orion will use the moon’s and Earth’s gravity to guide the spacecraft safely home.
- Reentry: The service module separates, and the capsule re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, facing temperatures up to 3,000°F (1,650°C).
- Splashdown: The Artemis II crew will parachute into the Pacific Ocean, completing the mission much like Apollo astronauts did decades ago.
Artemis II live tracker
NASA has created the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW), where people can track the Orion spacecraft in real time. Click here to see where the spacecraft and the Artemis II astronauts are.
Views from space: NASA video feed from Orion spacecraft
NASA is also broadcasting a feed from the Orion spacecraft. Viewers can get live views of space during the crew’s trip.
The feed is expected to end shortly before the Orion splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, according to NASA.
The Source: This article was written with information from NASA, the Artemis Real-time Orbit Website (AROW), and live feeds from NASA’s YouTube channel.