The Artemis II mission, NASA’s latest leap in its ambitious Artemis campaign, is returning home after a groundbreaking 10-day journey around the Moon. Four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen—are set to make a dramatic splashdown off the coast of San Diego, California, on Friday, April 10, 2026. The event marks the first time since 1972 that humans have ventured so close to the Moon, and the world is watching as the Orion spacecraft completes its historic round trip.
Launched on April 1, 2026, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the Artemis II mission is primarily a test flight designed to pave the way for future lunar landings. According to NASA, the spacecraft’s closest approach brought it within just 4,070 miles of the Moon’s surface—a breathtaking feat that rekindles memories of the Apollo era. By the time the capsule splashes down, the crew will have traveled an astonishing 695,081 miles, a journey that tested both human endurance and the limits of modern spacecraft technology (as reported by Variety and USA TODAY).
The return to Earth is meticulously choreographed. The Orion capsule is scheduled to reenter Earth’s atmosphere at a blistering 24,000 miles per hour—over 30 times the speed of sound. The drama begins around 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time, when the spacecraft will hit the upper atmosphere, igniting the air around it into a fireball that’s half as hot as the sun’s surface. At this point, communication with the crew will go silent for about six minutes, as the capsule is enveloped in plasma (as detailed by Los Angeles Times and NASA’s official updates).
For those eager to witness history, NASA is making sure nobody misses a moment. The splashdown is scheduled for approximately 8:07 p.m. Eastern Time (5:07 p.m. Pacific Time), and coverage is everywhere: NASA+, YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, Peacock, HBO Max, Apple TV, Discovery+, and Roku will all carry the event live starting at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT). Major networks like CBS, NBC, CNN, and ABC are also offering special live programming, with CBS News airing a one-hour special and ABC News providing nonstop live coverage of the reentry, splashdown, and recovery sequence. The USA TODAY Network is hosting its own livestream at floridatoday.com/space, ensuring that no matter your platform of choice, you can tune in to this celestial homecoming.
The technical choreography of reentry is as intricate as any ballet. At 7:33 p.m. ET, the Orion crew module will separate from its service module, exposing the heat shield that will protect the astronauts from temperatures reaching 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. An 18-second burn at 7:37 p.m. ET sets the proper entry angle. By 7:53 p.m. ET, the spacecraft will be 400,000 feet above Earth, traveling nearly 35 times the speed of sound. The astronauts, including pilot Victor Glover—a Southern California native who, if successful, becomes the first Black person to reach the Moon—will experience up to 3.9 Gs during this phase (according to NASA’s flight day timeline).
Parachute deployment is another critical moment. Around 8:03 p.m. ET, drogue parachutes will deploy at about 22,000 feet, slowing and stabilizing the capsule. A minute later, three main chutes will unfurl at 6,000 feet, reducing the speed to less than 136 mph, and finally down to 20 mph as Orion nears the ocean. At 8:07 p.m. ET, the capsule will splash down in the Pacific, just off San Diego, concluding a 694,481-mile odyssey.
The recovery operation is a joint effort between NASA and the U.S. military. As soon as Orion hits the water, Navy divers and helicopters spring into action. The crew will be helped onto an inflatable raft and then whisked by helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha, a 680-foot, 25,000-ton Navy transport dock warship standing by for their arrival. There, the astronauts will undergo immediate medical evaluations before being flown to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to reunite with their families (as described by Los Angeles Times and NASA).
Safety is paramount. NASA officials have cautioned would-be spectators and boaters to stay clear of the splashdown zone. Debris and the risk of toxic chemicals make the area hazardous, and the presence of unauthorized vessels could delay the recovery of the astronauts in case of emergency. “There’s a lot of debris that comes down, and we work with our recovery forces in order to ensure that it doesn’t hit them. But of course we don’t want it to hit anyone else,” Artemis II Lead Flight Director Jeff Radigan told Los Angeles Times. The memory of lookie-loos crowding the water during the last crewed splashdown in a new vehicle is still fresh for NASA, and this time, they’re determined to keep the operation as safe and efficient as possible.
For the Artemis II crew, the journey has been filled with moments of awe and humor. Pilot Victor Glover, still in space just days before reentry, reflected on the mission: “We’ve still got two more days, and riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well,” he quipped, highlighting both the gravity and the excitement of the adventure. The astronauts also described drifting past the far side of the Moon, at times out of communication with Earth—a reminder of both the risks and the wonder of deep space exploration.
But Artemis II is more than just a test of nerves and machinery. It’s a proving ground for the systems and procedures that will one day put boots back on the Moon—and, if NASA’s ambitions hold, eventually Mars. The mission tested Orion’s life support systems, including troubleshooting the capsule’s space toilet, piloting by hand, and practicing emergency procedures like sheltering from solar radiation. Data collected during reentry will help NASA refine its heat shield design, after unexpected chipping was observed during the uncrewed Artemis I mission.
Looking ahead, NASA plans to launch Artemis III in 2027, a mission that will test docking the Orion spacecraft with lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. Artemis IV, slated for 2028, aims to finally return humans to the Moon’s surface. The Artemis campaign is not just about flags and footprints; it’s about building a sustainable presence on the Moon and using it as a springboard for humanity’s next giant leap: Mars.
As the world tunes in to watch Artemis II’s fiery return, the mission stands as a testament to human ingenuity, international cooperation, and the enduring allure of exploration. For NASA, the journey does not end with splashdown—it is only the beginning of a new era beyond Earth’s cradle.