After 10 days On a journey to the far side of the Moon, astronauts from the Artemis II mission return to Earth. But according to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, the mission won’t end until everyone arrives home safely. The reentry of the Orion capsule is as critical as the trip to the Moon itself: it is the ultimate test to prove that the space agency has mastered the technology necessary to usher in a up-to-date era of deep space exploration.
According to NASA’s schedule, Artemis II will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on Friday, April 10 at 5:07 p.m. PDT. The broadcast, like the launch, will be available to watch on NASA+ and on streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Netflix and HBO Max. You can also watch NASA’s live stream on YouTube below.
US broadcast hours:
- San Francisco: 17:07
- Denver: 18:07
- Chicago: 19:07
- Fresh York: 20:08
Re-entry details
If everything goes well according to planthe crew module will enter the atmosphere near southeastern Hawaii at a maximum speed of 38,400 km/h, and it will take just 13 minutes to sink into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
During entry, the temperature outside the capsule will reach 2,760 degrees Celsius. The crew will experience a load of up to 3.9 g, meaning that after a week in microgravity, they will feel a force equivalent to almost four times their weight.