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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsArtemis II Schedule for today....
Artemis II splashdown timeline
Splashdown is targeted for 8:07 p.m. EDT (5:07 p.m. PDT) off the coast of San Diego, where a combined NASA and U.S. military recovery team will be standing by to welcome the Artemis II crew home.
A carefully timed sequence will guide Orion through the final stages of descent:
7:33 p.m.: Orions crew module will separate from the service module, exposing its heat shield for the spacecrafts return through Earths atmosphere, where it will encounter temperatures of about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
7:37 p.m.: Following separation, Orion will perform an 18 second crew module raise burn beginning to set the proper entry angle and align the heat shield for atmospheric interface.
7:53 p.m.: When Orion reaches 400,000 feet above Earths surface while traveling nearly 35 times the speed of sound. The crew is expected to experience up to 3.9 Gs in the planned entry profile. This moment marks the spacecrafts first contact with the upper atmosphere and the start of a planned six-minute communications blackout as plasma builds around the capsule.
8:03 p.m.: Around 22,000 feet in altitude, the drogue parachutes will deploy, slowing and stabilizing the capsule as Orion nears splashdown.
8:04 p.m.: At around 6,000 feet, the drogues will release, and the three main parachutes will deploy, reducing Orions speed to less than 136 mph.
8:07 p.m.: Slowing to 20 mph, Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, completing the Artemis II crews return to Earth and a 694,481-mile journey.
From there, teams from NASA and the U.S. military will extract the crew from Orion and fly them via helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha.
Within two hours after splashdown, the crew will be extracted from Orion and flown to the USS Murtha. Recovery teams will retrieve the crew, assist them onto an inflatable raft, and then use helicopters to deliver them to the ship. Once aboard, the astronauts will undergo post‑mission medical evaluations before returning to shore where awaiting aircraft will take them to NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston.
https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/missions/2026/04/10/artemis-ii-flight-day-10-crew-sets-for-final-burn-splashdown/
SheltieLover
(80,840 posts)chowder66
(12,297 posts)SheltieLover
(80,840 posts)Tyvm!
Swede
(39,603 posts)chowder66
(12,297 posts)SheltieLover
(80,840 posts)a kennedy
(36,047 posts)I wonder if theyll go??
haele
(15,424 posts)Only issue is where the sun is and if we're looking straight into it..
irisblue
(37,589 posts)And proper respect to the frogmen who knock on the door.
(And aaalll the other stuff they do in their daily day)
Talitha
(8,047 posts)CSPAN is covering it already - watching right now. Unfortunately they're playing a re-run of Dump's phone call but that's what the mute button is for. At least there's no insert image of his greasy uglymug.
Raine
(31,186 posts)a kennedy
(36,047 posts)Just hope they land safely. 🙏🏻 🇨🇦 🇺🇸