🎉 Friday · April 10, 2026 · Artemis II — Flight Day 10 · SPLASHDOWN DAY
WELCOME HOME, ARTEMIS II
SPLASHDOWN 8:07 PM EDT tonight!
Re-entry: ~7:53 PM EDT
Location: Pacific · off San Diego
Recovery: USS John P. Murtha
Mission: 695,081 miles total
🔴 Live Event — April 10, 2026 — Final Hours of Artemis II
Orion "Integrity" Returning to Earth Tonight — Watch the Historic Splashdown Live
The four Artemis II astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — are on the final leg of their historic 10-day, 695,081-mile lunar mission. Orion has completed its third and final trajectory correction burn, putting it on a precise course for splashdown about 60 miles off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 PM EDT (5:07 PM PDT). All four crew members have suited up and passed leak checks. Re-entry begins at ~7:53 PM EDT at 24,000+ mph, with temperatures reaching 5,000°F on the heat shield. A special modified steeper re-entry angle minimizes heat exposure due to known heat shield design flaws from Artemis I. Parachutes deploy near 22,000 ft, and 3 main chutes slow Orion to ~17 mph for splashdown. Weather conditions: waves under 4 ft, winds 10 knots — "you couldn't ask for better weather for this homecoming."
24,000+
MPH re-entry speed
5,000°F
Peak heat shield temp
6:30 PM Live coverage begins — NASA+, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Peacock, Roku, Disney+
7:30 PM ABC, CBS News, NBC 24/7 coverage begins
~7:53 PM Re-entry begins — atmosphere contact · Comms blackout ~6 min
~8:03 PM Drogue parachutes deploy at 22,000 ft
~8:04 PM 3 main parachutes open at 6,000 ft
8:07 PM EDT 🎉 SPLASHDOWN — Pacific Ocean, 60 miles off San Diego
~10:07 PM Crew extracted, helicoptered to USS John P. Murtha
SPLASHDOWN
🎉 Artemis II SPLASHDOWN tonight — 8:07 PM EDT · Pacific Ocean · 60 miles off San Diego coast
🔥 Re-entry at 24,000+ mph — heat shield reaching 5,000°F — steeper angle due to known shield flaws
👔 All four crew members suited up, leak checks passed — ready for re-entry
📡 Final trajectory correction burn completed — Orion on precise splashdown course
🚢 USS John P. Murtha in position — MH-60 Seahawk helicopters standing by for crew recovery
🌊 Perfect weather: waves under 4 ft, winds 10 knots — "couldn't ask for better conditions"
📺 Watch live: NASA+, Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, ABC, CBS, NBC, Peacock, Disney+
🌑 "Carroll" crater named for Wiseman's late wife — "It's a bright spot on the moon"
🌌 Mission record: 252,756 miles from Earth — farthest humans ever, beating Apollo 13 by 4,101 miles
🎉 Artemis II SPLASHDOWN tonight — 8:07 PM EDT · Pacific Ocean · 60 miles off San Diego coast
🔥 Re-entry at 24,000+ mph — heat shield reaching 5,000°F — steeper angle due to known shield flaws
👔 All four crew members suited up, leak checks passed — ready for re-entry
