NASA’s Artemis II mission is preparing to return to Earth tomorrow (April 11), ending its 10-day journey around the Moon. The four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft are expected to land in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California, possibly near San Diego. Splashdown is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. EDT on April 10, which is 5:37 a.m. IST on April 11 in India. Recovery teams from NASA and the U.S. Navy will be ready to welcome the crew back. During the mission, the astronauts traveled about 695,081 miles (1.1 million kilometers) in space marking a major step toward future human missions deeper into the solar system. Final hours before splashdown On the last day of the mission, the crew focused fully on safe return preparations. They packed equipment, wore their protective suits, and secured themselves inside the crew module. About 42 minutes before landing, the spacecraft’s service module separated from the crew module and burned up in Earth’s atmosphere. The crew module then turned its heat shield forward to face re-entry. This heat shield protects astronauts from extreme temperatures reaching nearly 3,000°F as the capsule passes through Earth’s atmosphere. How Orion finds its way back to Earth The Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, used Earth’s gravity to guide its return path. Along the way, small thruster firings helped adjust its direction carefully. Getting the angle right is critical. If the spacecraft enters the atmosphere too steeply or too shallowly, the landing could become dangerous. Just hours before re-entry, the final course correction ensured Orion was perfectly aligned for descent. What happens during re-entry? As Orion entered Earth’s atmosphere, it slowed dramatically from 23,840 mph to about 325 mph within 10–15 minutes. The atmosphere acted like a powerful brake, creating intense heat and friction. After that, 11 parachutes opened in stages, reducing the capsule’s speed further to around 20 mph before splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. From the moment it began re-entry to landing, Orion traveled about 1,775 nautical miles (3,287 km) across the atmosphere bringing the Artemis II crew safely back home after their historic Moon flyby.
