'Welcome home, Artemis': Crew celebrates historic 10-day moon mission
After their historic lunar flyby, the crew safely splashed down in the Pacific.
NASA's Artemis II mission lifted off on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The four-person crew completed a 695,081-mile, 10-day journey around the moon, also known as a lunar fly-by.
A "textbook" splashdown took place at 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, April 10.
Key Headlines
- Crew makes 1st appearance since return from historic mission
- 'Welcome home, Artemis': Jubilant and emotional, crew speaks out on historic moon mission
- Trump says he will welcome Artemis II crew to White House 'soon'
- NASA officials hail 'new era' of space exploration after successful mission
- Crew members hoisted into helicopters
- All 4 crew members out of the capsule
Spacecraft reenters Earth's atmosphere
Orion has reentered the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 400,000 feet, reaching peak heating and speed as it travels nearly 35 times the speed of sound.
The reentry also marks the start of a planned 6-minute communications blackout. The friction and compression of the atmosphere as Orion falls creates a plasma bubble that will engulf the spacecraft, not allowing radio signals in or out.
Spacecraft fine-tunes reentry angle
Orion performed a brief raise burn -- a firing of the thrusters -- that fine-tunes the reentry angle of the spacecraft to minimize the time the heat shield will experience high temperatures.
Major phase of final descent
Orion's crew module has separated from the European Service Module, exposing the heat shield that will protect the spacecraft during its high-speed travel through the Earth's atmosphere.
That shield will withstand temperatures of up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit during the high-speed entry.
Preparations for splashdown
U.S. Navy divers could be seen preparing to deploy from the well deck of the USS John P. Murtha, which will retrieve the crewmembers and NASA's Orion spacecraft once they splash down off the coast of San Diego.