Timeline: Artemis II's final hours in space to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean
Friday is the last day of the historic Artemis II mission to the Moon and back, and it's a jam-packed schedule for the crew aboard the Orion spacecraft as they prepare to reenter Earth's atmosphere and splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of California.
The 10-day mission had a successful liftoff and journey to the Moon. Now, they're just hours away from completing their final task.
We're taking a look at the schedule for the crew on the last day of the mission as they complete the last steps to getting back to Earth.
Upon waking up at 11:35 a.m. ET, the crew of Orion will spend the first few hours of the day configuring the cabin for reentry to Earth.
This includes stowing final items from the mission, getting seats in the correct position and getting ready for the day.
At 2:53 p.m. ET, Orion will do a Return Trajectory Correction Burn to keep the spacecraft on track.
This is the final RTC burn of the mission, and will fine-tune Orion's path to Earth.
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The burn will also put Orion in the right orientation to minimize excessive heating on its heat shield as it enters the atmosphere at 24,000+ mph.
NASA Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen will continue configuring the cabin.
At 5:05 p.m. ET, the Artemis II crew will begin their entry checklist.
This includes getting into their space survival suits for reentry.
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At 6:30 p.m. ET, NASA will begin its live coverage on the reentry and splashdown of Orion.
Coverage will include the landing and recovery of the crew, expected to end at 9:35 p.m. ET.
At 7:33 p.m. ET, the Crew module will separate from the European Service module about 20 minutes before the crew enters Earth's upper atmosphere.
The European Service Module is the European Space Agency's contribution to the Artemis II mission.
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It served as the powerhouse of the spacecraft as it provided in-space maneuvering capability, power, and other commodities necessary for life support, including consumables for the astronauts, like water, oxygen and nitrogen, NASA said.
At 7:37 p.m. ET, Orion will conduct a raise burn.
This burn will get Orion into the correct position for reentry.
At 7:53 p.m. ET, Orion will enter Earth's upper atmosphere at 400,000 feet.
This is when a roughly 6-minute communications blackout between the Artemis II crew and mission control at Johnson Space Center begins.
Peak heating will also occur at this point, when Orion will reach roughly 5,000°, putting the spacecraft's heat shield through the ultimate test.
Just a few seconds before 8 p.m. ET, NASA will regain communications with Artemis II's crew as they get closer to splashdown.
The vehicle will also conduct a few rolls to help slow it down after communication is recovered.
Four minutes before splashdown at roughly 22,000 feet, the drogue parachutes on Orion will deploy to slow its descent.
One minute after the drogue parachutes deploy, the main parachutes will deploy at 8:04 p.m.
This occurs at roughly 6,000 feet.
At 8:07 p.m., after nearly 10 days in space, Artemis II's crew will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
Crew extraction and recovery is expected to take 45 minutes to one hour after splashdown, NASA said.
The USS John P Murtha is on standby and will deploy helicopters to pick up the astronauts and take them to the ship for a medical evaluation.
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The crew will remain on the boat dependent on their condition post-splashdown.
NASA will hold a post-splashdown press conference at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
More details on the press conference will follow.
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