After a 10-day journey to the far side of the moon, the astronauts of the Artemis II mission are returning to Earth. But in the words of NASA administrator Jared Isaacman, the mission is not over until everyone arrives home safely. The reentry of the Orion capsule matters as much as the lunar journey itself: It is the ultimate test to prove that the space agency has mastered the technology needed to usher in a new era of deep space exploration.
According to NASA's schedule, Artemis II will reenter Earth's atmosphere on Friday, April 10, at 5:07 pm PDT. The broadcast, as with liftoff, will be available for viewing on NASA+ and streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Netflix, and HBO Max. You can also watch on NASA's YouTube livestream below.
Broadcast times across the US:
If all goes according to plan, the crewed module will enter the atmosphere near southeast Hawaii at a maximum speed of 38,400 kmh and will take just 13 minutes to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
During entry, the outside of the capsule will reach 2,760 degrees Celsius. The crew will experience up to 3.9 g’s, which means they will feel a force equivalent to nearly four times their weight after spending a week in microgravity.
Orion capsule entry sequence.
At some point during descent, the spacecraft will go through a six-minute communications blackout. Extreme heat will generate a plasma blanket around the capsule that will temporarily block signals.
In the final phase, Orion will deploy its parachute system for a controlled descent. After landing in the ocean, the astronauts will board a ship for an initial medical evaluation and then travel to Houston to complete more detailed reports and tests.
The purpose of Artemis II was to prove that NASA can once again circle the moon with a crew. The long-awaited lunar landing will have to wait for Artemis IV. In the meantime, the program's third mission will focus on perfecting the technologies that made Artemis II possible and resolving any setbacks, while NASA's partners finish key systems such as SpaceX's lunar descent module. In any case, the agency maintains its goal: to achieve a “return to the moon” by 2030.
This story originally appeared in WIRED en Español and has been translated from Spanish.
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