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NASA Outlines Recovery Process for Artemis II Crew After Pacific Ocean Splashdown
The Artemis II mission concluded with the Orion spacecraft splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego. Recovery teams from NASA and the U.S. Navy will secure the capsule and extract the four astronauts using inflatable devices and helicopters. The crew will receive medical evaluations aboard the U.S.S. John P. Murtha before returning to Houston.
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The Artemis II spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. The mission involved four astronauts.
The capsule endured reentry temperatures.
Upon splashdown, five airbags inflated on top of the Orion capsule to reorient it upright if necessary and provide stability against waves or winds. U.S. Navy, already positioned at sea, tracked the capsule and jettisoned hardware, including three main parachutes.
Navy divers approached the capsule in inflatable boats to assess safety for crew exit.
Divers attached an inflatable collar to the capsule for added stability and deployed an inflatable platform known as the front porch to facilitate astronaut recovery.
NASA expects this extraction process to complete post-splashdown. Aboard the ship, the crew underwent medical evaluations.
The astronauts then returned to shore and flew to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The recovery team secured the Orion capsule with lines and towed it slowly to the ship for initial storage.
Naval Base San Diego. From there, it was returned to Houston for further analysis.
