NASA’s Artemis II crew of four astronauts from the United States and Canada is scheduled to return to Earth on Friday after a historic journey to the far side of the moon.
Reed Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen spent 10 days aboard the Orion spacecraft. Reentry is scheduled to begin at 7:33 p.m. ET and splashdown at 8:07 p.m.
NASA will provide a live feed as the crew touches down in the Pacific Ocean later today. The Orion spacecraft is expected to splash down off the coast of San Diego, California.
The Artemis II mission marks the first time humans have ventured into lunar orbit in more than 50 years. The crew traveled further from Earth than any human has ever gone before, reaching an estimated distance of 352,760 miles from Earth. That’s the equivalent of about 100 trips between New York City and Los Angeles, with the astronauts alone inside a capsule with 330 cubic feet of habitable space, about the size of two minivans.
The purpose of the Artemis II mission is to collect data and insights that will help NASA prepare for future lunar missions and landings. The astronauts conducted planned tests on the Orion spacecraft to assess how it would perform with a crew in deep space. This includes testing communication systems with colleagues on Earth, orbit adjustment, and safe reentry and splashdown.
Waterfall can be one of the most dangerous moments of the entire mission. The 2022 Artemis I mission had no crew, but Orion’s protective heat shield suffered unexpected damage during its return to Earth. The heat shield is made of AVCOAT (a material designed to gradually dissipate heat from temperatures close to 5,000 degrees and protect the crew as it enters Earth’s atmosphere), but the shield was scorched and cracked in places, which was unexpected.
If humans had been on board Artemis 1, they would have returned safely, NASA said. The agency also conducted an extensive investigation into how the heat shields were damaged in the first place. Still, the heat shield remains a top priority as people around the world look forward to the safe return of these four astronauts.
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The crew departed Earth on April 1, but the astronauts soon encountered common mishaps, including problems with Microsoft Office and toilets. But these early moments were easily overshadowed by the wonders of images and information the crew sent back from the moon. You can already see new photos from the lunar flight on the far side of the moon.
The astronauts also named new craters, including one named after mission commander Wiseman’s late wife, Carol, who died of cancer in 2020 at age 46.
The crew was also able to witness a total solar eclipse from just a few thousand miles away from the Moon, a unique perspective never before experienced by astronauts.
“It wasn’t just a solar eclipse with the sun hiding behind the moon,” explained Koch, the crew’s mission specialist. “We could also see the Earthshine as the sun’s light reflected off the Earth and enveloped the Moon in a soft, borrowed light.”
The rest of the live broadcast is being streamed here.
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