'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.
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- 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
Final trajectory correction burn completed
Orion completed its final return correction burn successfully at 2:53 p.m. ET.
This burn ensures the spacecraft maintains the proper trajectory back to Earth.
The crew and service module will separate and reveal the Orion heat shield at 7:33 p.m. ET.
-ABC News' Matthew Glasser
Weather criteria required for splashdown
Splashdown remains tentatively scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, likely within 100 miles of the San Diego coast, according to NASA. However, the exact timing could still change depending on various conditions.
Weather-wise, it's still looking like a go with no big changes to the forecast at this time. The criteria required for splashdown are expected to be met off the coast of San Diego. Rain should remain well to the north of the region, and clouds shouldn't exceed the safety threshold.
While conditions continue to look favorable, weather and ocean conditions will remain closely monitored right up to retry to determine if any small trajectory shifts are required to ensure the Orion spacecraft arrives home in the most favorable conditions possible.
Weather criteria needed for a nominal splashdown and recovery, according to NASA, are:
-Significant wave height must be less than six feet
-No precipitation or lightning within 35 miles
-Winds under 28 mph
-Good visibility and minimal cloud cover below a certain height
-ABC News' Daniel Peck
Why the crew will lose communication with mission control during reentry
When the Artemis II crew begins reentry into Earth's atmosphere, the world will need to wait about six minutes for that proof -- the length of time that Mission Control will lose communication with the astronauts.
Unlike the 40-minute loss of communications experienced when the Orion crew module passed behind the moon, which physically blocked radio signals from reaching the spacecraft, loss of communication during reentry results from Orion's passage through Earth's atmosphere.
Read more here.
-ABC News' Briana Alvarado
Artemis II crew awakened on last day in space
The Artemis II crew was awakened on the final day of their mission by the song "Run to the Water" by Live, followed by the Zac Brown Band song "Free."
Brown then shared a personal audio message with the crew.
The crew will prepare for their day and then spend time configuring the cabin for reentry, which will begin at approximately 7:53 p.m. ET.
Splashdown is still scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET.