NASA astronauts prepare for splashdown return to earth from moon mission

The Orion spacecraft’s reentry is by far the riskiest moment of the 10-day Artemis II mission.

The mission’s crew – Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – will crash into Earth’s atmosphere, traveling at a staggering 40,000 km per hour.

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They will be enveloped in a hot plasma fireball half the size of the Sun’s surface.

We expect the astronauts to land in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego at 10:07.

This will mark the end of the mission that captured the hearts and imaginations of the world and marked humanity’s first visit to our lunar neighbor in 53 years.