science
NASA's Artemis II Astronauts Complete Mission with Scheduled Return to Earth
The four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission, launched nearly 10 days ago from Kennedy Space Center, are set to return to Earth on Friday. The crew's Orion capsule will reenter the atmosphere at 7:53 p.m. ET and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego at 8:07 p.m. ET. The mission tested key spacecraft systems and achieved new distance records from Earth.
SE
+7
NprAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
The Orion capsule will reenter the atmosphere and splash down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego. The USS John P. Murtha will recover the capsule, with a team installing an inflatable raft for crew extraction. A flight surgeon will examine the astronauts before they return to Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Challenges Reentry requires the capsule to enter the atmosphere at a precise angle to ensure success. The mission encountered issues with the onboard toilet system, requiring manual urinals multiple times due to problems with the urine dump mechanism.
Officials reported the toilet hardware functioned correctly, but the overboard dumping system failed. Engineers will examine the capsule's plumbing upon return to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Mission Context Artemis II marked the first crewed Orion flight and the return of humans to lunar vicinity since the Apollo program ended over 50 years ago. The mission validated systems for future lunar operations, including potential docking with a lunar landing system.
Data from the flight will inform improvements for the next mission, which aims to achieve a lunar landing. Officials maintain a goal to return humans to the moon's surface by 2030 through the Artemis program. Partners, including SpaceX, are developing key components like the lunar descent module.
Post-mission analysis of the Orion capsule will assess overall performance and drive modifications for subsequent flights.
