The Artemis II astronauts have made a historic lunar flyby, gathered invaluable data, and captured unprecedented views of Earth's natural satellite, but one of the most critical moments of their ten-day mission is still to come: the landing.
Earlier this week, Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen, traveled farther from Earth than any human before them. This mission is considered a crucial "stepping stone" toward eventual crewed landings on the Moon and beyond.
They are scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego today, April 10, at 5:07 p.m. local time, or April 11 at 2:07 a.m. our time, after which NASA and the U.S. military will assist them in exiting the capsule and reaching the recovery ship.
Their journey has been rich with milestones and has already yielded stunning photographs that have captivated imaginations on Earth.
But until the astronauts return home, it is too early to declare success, said NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya during a briefing on Thursday.
"We can begin celebrating once the crew is safely in the medical bay of the ship. That’s when we can truly let emotions take over and start talking about success. We must bring the crew home before we do that," the senior official stated.
The stakes are particularly high given concerns that arose during the Artemis I mission, an uncrewed test flight to the Moon and back in 2022, during which the Orion capsule's heat shield eroded in unexpected ways.
The heat shield is critical. During re-entry, the Orion spacecraft will face temperatures reaching up to 2,760 degrees Celsius—half the temperature of the Sun's surface.
The astronauts will return at a maximum speed of 10,657 meters per second, more than 30 times the speed of sound.
The heat shield is designed to slowly erode or "ablate," as NASA puts it, to protect the capsule. However, this process was disrupted during Artemis I.
To mitigate any risk to the crew, NASA altered the re-entry trajectory used in that test mission after determining it played a role in the complications.
"We have great confidence in the system—the heat shield, parachutes, and recovery systems we’ve assembled. Engineering supports it, the Artemis I flight data supports it. All our ground tests also support it, as do the analyses. The crew will put their lives behind that confidence," Kshatriya said.
When asked about the stress levels at NASA, the associate administrator gave a candid response.
"It’s impossible to say we have no irrational fears, but I can say I have no rational fears about what will happen," he emphasized.
NASA announced that the astronauts' families will watch their return from Mission Control in Houston.
Catherine Hansen, wife of astronaut Jeremy, said this has been a highly emotional week.
"There’s been a lot of happiness and excitement, a lot of joy, but also some anxiety and a strong desire to bring him home safely," she said.
NASA described the second phase of the Artemis program as a "test mission," including verifying the reliability of the Orion capsule, which had not carried humans before.
This journey was also marked by historic achievements. Glover became the first person of color to fly around the Moon, Koch the first woman, and Canadian Hansen the first non-American.
The crew provided detailed reports on lunar surface features and later witnessed a solar eclipse, as well as meteoroid impacts.
NASA senior official Lakiesha Hawkins stated at this week’s briefing that "when a mission goes well, it can make a Moon flight seem easy."
"It’s certainly not. We must not forget this is a test flight, and everything we learn supports the next mission," Hawkins said.
Late on Wednesday, astronaut Koch noted that "everything they do" is connected to the next crew.