WATCH LIVE: Orion Spaceship To Splash Down in the Pacific Ocean at 8:07 PM ET – Return to Earth Concludes the Historic Artemis II Lunar Mission UPDATE: Perfect Reentry and Splash Down, All Astronauts in Good Shape!
Welcome back, Artemis II’s crew!
Artemis II’s historic journey to the moon orbit and back is set to conclude with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean this Friday evening.
Splashdown is expected at around 8:07 p.m. ET at some 80 miles off the coast of San Diego.
This will crown the ten-day, 685,000-mile mission, the first crewed flight to the moon in 54 years.
Fist bump! 👊
The Artemis II crew is now under 35,000 miles from Earth. The astronauts are preparing the spacecraft for reentry and the weather is looking good for splashdown. pic.twitter.com/jYNlo0xoNu
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
The New York Post reported:
“Friday’s splashdown is unlikely to be as dazzling a sight here on Earth as the April 1 launch was — but the astronauts will have a show from within their capsule as they soar through the atmosphere at nearly 25,000 mph on a tail of fire and the capsule heats to upward of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
NASA said they’ll feel 3.9 Gs on the way back to terra firma — and hit a maximum velocity of 23,864 mph.
Parachutes will then deploy to slow the capsule, until it hits the water at around 17 mph, and the crew is snatched up by a waiting recovery ship.”
Behind the four astronauts of Artemis II are hundreds of people tracking their every move: monitoring spacecraft systems, evaluating crew safety, and staying in constant communication. Let’s hear it for the team in Mission Control responsible for getting the astronauts around the… pic.twitter.com/ro7G8xy4fa
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
Homeward bound 🌎
Today’s the day our Artemis II astronauts splash down on Earth after their journey around the Moon. Here are ways to watch, starting at 6:30pm ET (2230 UTC): https://t.co/fAg0bGAqEc pic.twitter.com/stTC8XKY7B
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
“A Navy transport dock ship, the USS John P. Murtha, will be in position with a crew of divers and helicopters to make sure Artemis II’s brave astronauts — Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and specialists Jeremy Hensen and Christina Koch — are recovered safely from the capsule.”
WATCH LIVE:
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