Artemis II splashdown today: When and where to watch live
What's the story
NASA's Artemis II mission is set to return to Earth on April 10. The Orion spacecraft will splash down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego at around 8:07pm EDT (April 11, 5:37am IST). The crew spent hours observing and recording details of the Moon during their historic 10-day journey. The live stream will start around 4:00 AM IST. You can watch the event on NASA's official website, NASA+, YouTube, Amazon Prime, as well as Netflix.
Mission details
Orion spacecraft traveled over 1,118,624km during mission
The Artemis II crew traveled a total of 1,118,624km during their mission. The Orion spacecraft came within 6,550km of the Moon's surface and reached a maximum distance from Earth of about 406,777km. This is over 6,598km farther than Apollo 13. After splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, NASA recovery teams will use helicopters to transfer astronauts to USS John P Murtha for medical evaluations before returning them to shore.
Post-mission assessments
Artemis II crew consists of 4 astronauts
After the astronauts are safely back onshore, they will be taken to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for further post-mission assessments. The Artemis II mission crew consists of four astronauts: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Heremy Hansen. This successful return marks a significant milestone for NASA as it prepares for future lunar missions under the Artemis program.