Artemis II Orion spacecraft prepares for fiery re-entry and Pacific splashdown
NASA teams are making final preparations as the Artemis II crew returns to Earth aboard the Orion spacecraft following a historic journey around the moon.
(CNN)- Officials say all systems are performing as expected ahead of one of the most dangerous phases of the mission — re-entry.
“We’ve reviewed all the re-entry procedures and activities, and we are good to go,” said Branelle Rodriguez, Artemis II Orion vehicle manager. “Orion remains healthy. It’s been working fantastic.”
NASA specialists on the ground are now running through critical checklists to ensure a safe return. That includes parachute deployment systems, separation of the service module from the crew module, and the performance of the spacecraft’s heat shield.
“I have a whole checklist in my head — the drogues have to come out, the main chutes have to deploy, the reefing systems have to cut, separation between the service module and the crew module, the heat shield that has to work,” said Jeff Radigan, Artemis II lead flight director.
The Orion capsule is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California just after 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
Before that, astronauts must endure the intense re-entry process — widely considered the most challenging part of the mission.
As the spacecraft plunges into Earth’s atmosphere, it will travel at speeds nearing 25,000 miles per hour while temperatures outside the capsule reach roughly 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit — about half as hot as the surface of the sun. At the same time, astronauts will experience forces up to four times the pull of gravity.
Inside the spacecraft, however, conditions remain controlled.
“Inside the vehicle, the spacecraft systems — it’s a nice 75 degrees,” Rodriguez said.
Despite the brief duration of re-entry, NASA officials say the margin for error is extremely small.
“It’s not so much 13 minutes — it’s more in my head about an hour and a half of things that have to go right,” Radigan added.
