Artemis II: Crew Returns Home

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, continue preparing for their return to Earth, scheduled for Friday, April 10.

Credit: NASA

As the Artemis II mission approaches Earth, NASA ground teams are completing final preparations for Orion’s reentry and splashdown, planned for approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT (5:07 p.m. PT) on Friday, April 10, off the coast of San Diego.

Watch the scheduled live broadcast here:

As Orion descends from an altitude of about 400,000 feet during its return to Earth, the spacecraft is expected to enter a planned six-minute communications blackout at 7:53 p.m. EDT due to plasma forming around the capsule during peak heating. The crew is expected to experience forces of up to 3.9 G under the standard reentry profile.