The crew of Artemis II is set to return to Earth on Friday after completing a historic 10-day lunar flyby mission, with NASA leaders laying out the detailed steps involved in bringing the astronauts home safely.
The return journey will send the Orion capsule back through Earth’s atmosphere at nearly 24,000mph before it makes a final splashdown several miles off the coast of San Diego, California.
NASA says the operation requires multiple teams working in close coordination to manage the final stages of the mission and safely remove the crew from the spacecraft after landing in the ocean.
The planned return marks another major milestone in NASA’s Artemis programme, which is aimed at expanding human spaceflight beyond Earth orbit and toward future lunar exploration.
As the mission moves into its final phase, the focus is on precision and safety, with the recovery effort designed to ensure the astronauts are brought back to shore efficiently after splashdown.
