Artemis II splashdown: How to watch Orion capsule return home

(NewsNation) — It begins with a fireball and ends with a raft in the Pacific Ocean.

When the Orion spacecraft carrying NASA’s Artemis II crew pierces Earth’s atmosphere on Friday evening, it will be traveling at nearly 25,000 mph.

Within minutes, a precisely choreographed sequence of parachutes, Navy divers and military helicopters will slow that descent — and the four astronauts — to a gentle stop in the waters off the California coast.

Splashdown is scheduled for approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT, roughly 60 miles off San Diego, weather permitting.

The Artemis II crew includes NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, returning from a nearly 10-day mission around the Moon — the space agency’s first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years.

How to Watch Artemis II splashdown on NewsNation

NewsNation, The Hill’s sister network, will present live breaking news coverage throughout Friday, with the evening anchored by a special edition of “CUOMO” at 8 p.m. EDT, featuring live footage of the Orion splashdown.

Live updates will continue with “On Balance with Leland Vittert” at 9 p.m., followed by a live NASA press conference during “Katie Pavlich Tonight” at 10 p.m.

National correspondent Nancy Loo will report from San Diego; national correspondent Xavier Walton will anchor coverage from NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston; and host Jesse Weber will contribute from the network’s New York City bureau.

What will happen at splashdown?

As Orion enters the atmosphere, the capsule’s heat shield protects the crew while the spacecraft decelerates from nearly 25,000 mph. At approximately 300 mph, a system of 11 parachutes deploys in a timed sequence to slow the capsule to roughly 20 mph for splashdown.

Before the crew can be extracted, a NASA team known as Sasquatch will have mapped the ocean zones where jettisoned hardware, including the forward bay cover, drogue parachutes and mortars, will land, keeping recovery boats and helicopters clear.

The recovery ship will position approximately 1.5 to 2 miles from the splashdown point, bow facing the capsule, before circling to place its port side toward Orion for extraction. Navy small boats carrying divers and medical personnel will have been deployed as many as 12 to 14 hours ahead of splashdown.

Once divers complete a hazard assessment of the surrounding water, they will open the hatch. Navy medical staff will perform initial checks on the astronauts aboard the capsule.

Divers will install an inflatable stabilization collar around Orion, then attach an inflatable raft — called the “front porch” — beneath the side hatch to serve as the extraction platform.

After all four crew members have moved onto the raft, it will be relocated roughly 100 yards from the capsule before helicopter transport begins.

Two Navy Seahawk MH-60 helicopters will ferry the astronauts back to the ship, two at a time: Helicopter 1 will carry Astronauts 1 and 3; Helicopter 2 will carry Astronauts 2 and 4. Two additional Seahawks will provide aerial overwatch and imaging, including one live camera feeding NASA TV.

When each helicopter lowers an astronaut to the flight deck, medical personnel will be waiting. NASA expects the full crew to be aboard the ship within one to two hours of splashdown.

With the crew secured, the ship will maneuver its stern toward the capsule for Orion’s recovery into the well deck — a process that typically takes four to six hours after splashdown and sometimes longer. Navy divers will secure a system of lines to the capsule’s collar, with an additional pneumatic winch line helping guide Orion slowly inside the ship.

Following medical evaluations, the astronauts will depart by helicopter to San Diego, then continue onward to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

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