The Artemis 2 splashdown took place around 8:07 p.m. EDT, with NASA reporting the Orion crew module landing in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California and mission control describing the touchdown as a bullseye. The four astronauts aboard Integrity were commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, the latter representing the Canadian Space Agency, as reported by Space.com and Live Science.
Reentry exposed Orion’s heat shield to peak heating near 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit and produced a planned six-minute communications blackout, NASA said. Mission telemetry showed Orion slowed from tens of thousands of miles per hour and deployed its parachute sequence, with two drogue chutes followed by three main chutes that reduced descent to roughly 19 miles per hour before splashdown, according to Live Science.
Recovery teams from NASA and the U.S. Navy moved in immediately, with the USS John P. Murtha positioned to support retrieval and helicopters standing by to lift the crew to the ship. NASA’s timeline anticipated crew extraction soon after splashdown, with on-water medical checks performed by Navy dive medical teams and an initial handover to shipboard medical facilities as Live Science described.
Live coverage began earlier in the evening on NASA’s streaming platforms and partner services, with NASA+ starting coverage at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Live Science noted millions of viewers tuned into the stream on YouTube and other channels during the descent and recovery operations.
Heat Shield Concerns Preparations And Crew Moments
Engineers and flight controllers adjusted the reentry profile to reduce stress on Orion’s heat shield after analysis of an earlier uncrewed mission showed unexpected damage, Live Science reported. The team performed final trajectory correction burns and a brief raise burn just before reentry to refine the approach and limit heating loads.
The crew spent their final day stowing equipment and donning entry suits, and they packed the collapsible contingency urinal into sealed bags before powering down nonessential systems, sources said. Flight directors and mission commentators described smooth cabin configuration and suit checks prior to separation of the service module from the crew module.
On the recovery side, the Navy confirmed it would carry an abundant supply of Uncrustables sandwiches and the Smucker’s brand publicly offered a lifetime supply to the crew, as reported by the news coverage. NASA scheduled a post-landing press conference at Johnson Space Center for later the evening to discuss splashdown details, crew health, and next steps for the Artemis program.
