'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
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.
'13 minutes of things that have to go right,' NASA official says of splashdown
NASA says the Artemis II return is on track, with teams focused on the final phase of the mission: the reentry, splashdown and recovery sequence.
From the moment Orion enters Earth’s atmosphere to the time it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, the entire sequence takes about 13 minutes.
“It’s 13 minutes of things that have to go right,” NASA Flight Director Jeff Radigan said during the final mission status briefing, adding that in his view, “it’s more, in my head, about an hour and a half of things that have to go right.”
Officials also addressed public visibility of entry and splashdown along the West Coast. Based on the planned trajectory, Radigan said, “I don’t expect it to be visible for the folks in California,” noting that the spacecraft will be targeting a landing area well offshore.
He cautioned the public to stay clear of the area, pointing to the debris that is expected to fall.
NASA confirmed a small leak in the service module’s oxidizer system, but officials said it will not affect the return.
-ABC News' Briana Alvarado
Artemis II crew awakened for day 9 of historic journey
The Artemis II crew was awakened Thursday by the song “Lonesome Drifter,” by country singer Charley Crockett, as day nine of their 10-day flight officially began.
Reentry and splashdown preparations for a scheduled Friday splashdown off the California coast are now in full swing. The crew is scheduled to execute their second return trajectory burn of the Orion crew module at 10:53 p.m. ET today.
NASA will hold another mission status briefing at 3:30 p.m. ET.
-ABC News' Briana Alvarado