Artemis II crew splashdown set for at 8:07 p.m. EDT Friday

The four-member crew aboard NASA’s Artemis II is headed to Earth and is set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean at 8:07 p.m. EDT Friday  (5:07 p.m. PDT) following a historic 10-day flight around the Moon.

The splashdown will occur off the coast of San Diego and NASA will broadcast it live on various channels including NASA Live.

Artemis II and its crew aboard the spacecraft Orion (dubbed Integrity by the crew) reached 248,655 miles from Earth, surpassing the previous record distance traveled by humans set by Apollo 13 in 1970. During the mission, they conducted multiple science demos and tests, including using radiation-resistant cameras with CMOS image sensors to photograph the Moon’s far side. A number of radiation sensors were also deployed to warn when radiation levels from solar flares and deep space exceeded safe levels.   

RELATED: Artemis II: Image sensors in digital cameras capture stunning Moon pics 

RELATED:Sensors on Orion will monitor solar radiation to keep crew safe

Prior to splashdown, a third return trajectory correction burn is scheduled for Friday at 1:53 p.m. EDT ahead of re-entry procedures. 

The flight crew took time for a group hug inside the Orion spacecraft earlier in the week when the Earth’s gravity had a stronger pull than the Moon’s gravity, known as the sphere of influence. 

The Artemis II flight crew: Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Pilot Victor Glover and Commander Reid Wiseman. 

NASA ground control and the flight crew will be watching for several critical splashdown events to include a correct angle of re-entry that is more shallow than in Artemis I, which left scarring on the heat shield. The modified Artemis II heat shield is expected to reach 5,000 degrees F during re-entry.

A series of parachutes will slow Orion’s entry from more than 23,000 mph to 20 mph on splashdown. forward bay cover parachutes will be followed by drogue chutes, then pilot chutes, then three main chutes. 

During re-entry, the European  Service Module connected to Orion that contains the four 7-meter-long solar array wings will separate about 7:33 p.m., just 20 minutes before Orion reaches the upper atmosphere. At 400,000 feet, the spacecraft will enter a planned six minute communications blackout at 7:53 p.m.  The crew will experience nearly 4 Gs in a normal landing. The main parachutes will open around 6,000 feet at 8:04 p.m. for splashdown at 8:07 p.m. when recovery begins.