Here's what to expect from the fiery, 14-minute return of Artemis II
Ars Technica • • general
Key Points:
- The Artemis II mission's Orion spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth with a splashdown off the Southern California coast at 8:07 pm ET on Friday, marking a critical phase of the lunar flight.
- Final maneuvers include a possible trajectory correction burn, separation of the Crew Module from the Service Module 44 minutes before splashdown, and precise orientation of the heat shield for atmospheric reentry.
- Reentry will begin at about 400,000 feet altitude with the spacecraft hitting the atmosphere at nearly 24,000 mph, causing temperatures up to 3,000°F and a six-minute communications blackout due to plasma engulfment.
- NASA has modified the heat shield entry profile for Artemis II to reduce heat load duration from 14 to 8 minutes following concerns from the Artemis I mission, and NASA officials express confidence in the shield’s performance despite residual anxieties.
- After reentry, parachutes will deploy sequentially to slow Orion for splashdown; recovery teams aboard the USS John P. Murtha will extract the crew and transport them back to Houston, with calm weather conditions aiding the recovery operation.
