What to expect as Artemis II comes home
The splashdown of the Orion capsule will follow a precise timeline through the afternoon and evening on Friday.
Nasa says the scheduled splashdown time of 5.07pm PT (8.07pm ET; 1.07am Saturday BST) is approximate, and will harden as the capsule passes certain milestones during its descent.
Here’s what the day looks like right now (all times Pacific):
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8.35am Crew wakes up
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10.50am Crew completes cabin configuration preparation
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11.53am Final return trajectory correction burn
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4.33pm Orion separates from service module
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4.37pm Crew module raise burn to place spacecraft at correct angle for reentry
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4.53pm Entry interface to Earth’s atmosphere at 400,000ft
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5.07pm Splashdown
Orion will be exposed to heat up to 5,000F (2,760C) during its 25,000mph reentry. A set of 11 parachutes will deploy in sequence at set altitudes following reentry that will slow the spacecraft to 17mph at splashdown.
It could take up to two hours after splashdown for crews from Nasa and the US navy to reach the capsule, open the hatch and release the astronauts. Nasa plans to take them by helicopter to a military base in San Diego for medical checks, then they will fly back to Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
Nasa plans a post-landing press conference about two and a half hours after splashdown.
Key events
Artemis II record breakers
The crew of Artemis II traveled farther from Earth than any humans before them, reaching 252,756 miles, more than 4,000 beyond the previous record set by the Apollo 13 crew in April 1970.
“We do so in honoring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration” mission specialist Jeremy Hansen said from space.
“We most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.”
It wasn’t the only record set during their 10-day lunar flyby. Christina Koch became the only woman to have traveled to the moon and back. Hansen, of the Canadian Space Agency, became the first non-American. Victor Glover, the Artemis II pilot, became the first person of color to do so.
Before the four Artemis II astronauts, only 24 humans made the journey and returned safely. All were white American men during nine manned Apollo missions between December 1968 and December 1972.
On the eve of splashdown day, the Artemis II crew spoke about inspiring the next generation and “working on something big for the good of everyone”.
You can catch up on their comments here:
What to expect as Artemis II comes home
The splashdown of the Orion capsule will follow a precise timeline through the afternoon and evening on Friday.
Nasa says the scheduled splashdown time of 5.07pm PT (8.07pm ET; 1.07am Saturday BST) is approximate, and will harden as the capsule passes certain milestones during its descent.
Here’s what the day looks like right now (all times Pacific):
-
8.35am Crew wakes up
-
10.50am Crew completes cabin configuration preparation
-
11.53am Final return trajectory correction burn
-
4.33pm Orion separates from service module
-
4.37pm Crew module raise burn to place spacecraft at correct angle for reentry
-
4.53pm Entry interface to Earth’s atmosphere at 400,000ft
-
5.07pm Splashdown
Orion will be exposed to heat up to 5,000F (2,760C) during its 25,000mph reentry. A set of 11 parachutes will deploy in sequence at set altitudes following reentry that will slow the spacecraft to 17mph at splashdown.
It could take up to two hours after splashdown for crews from Nasa and the US navy to reach the capsule, open the hatch and release the astronauts. Nasa plans to take them by helicopter to a military base in San Diego for medical checks, then they will fly back to Houston’s Johnson Space Center.
Nasa plans a post-landing press conference about two and a half hours after splashdown.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the splashdown of the Artemis II crew off the coast of California after their mesmerizing 10-day mission to fly around the moon.
The Orion capsule that carried four astronauts, three Americans and one Canadian, on their 695,000-mile lunar adventure is scheduled to land at 5.07pm PT (8.07pm ET, 1.07am Saturday BST).
I’m Richard Luscombe, and I’ll be bringing you the developments as they happen, from the preparations for Orion’s fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, to its Pacific Ocean splashdown and hatch opening that will give the crew their first breaths of fresh air since before their launch from Florida on 1 April.