Artemis II splashdown tracker: Watch live as the Orion crew returns to Earth

Humanity is always aspiring to stretch itself to achieve new goals, including exploring new frontiers.

The Artemis II crew accomplished this, traveling 252,000 miles away from Earth, the farthest any human has ever been before, breaking the Apollo 13 record.

The four brave individuals are set to return Friday, splashing down off the coast of California, near San Diego. Here’s everything you need to know about the landing, including how to tune in.

How did the Artemis get its name?

The name Artemis is a throwback to the first NASA moon missions. Apollo 11 saw Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take giant leaps for mankind on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969.

Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, so the moniker reflects the hope that it will follow in the previous big footsteps.

Artemis II’s goal is to test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft with people on board. (No moon landings just yet.) The roughly 10-day mission circled the moon to test the systems so Artemis III can eventually land on the lunar surface.

All about the Artemis II crew

The head honcho of the Artemis II crew is commander Reid Wiseman. This isn’t his first rodeo in space as he has already logged 165 days on the International Space Station.

At the wheel is Victor J. Glover Jr. who serves as the mission’s pilot. This father of four hails from Pomona, California, and previously served as a U.S. Navy captain. He first joined NASA in 2013.

It’s fair to say that mission specialist Christina Koch has been dreaming of the Artemis mission since attending Space Camp in her youth. Now she’s in their Hall of Fame. She made history by serving as a flight engineer for a 328-day space mission, the longest single spaceflight by a woman.

Canada is even getting in on the action with mission specialist Jeremy Hansen. As a member of the Canadian Space Agency, he became the first non-American to orbit the moon.

A brief summary of the Artemis II mission so far

This was no April Fools: The Orion spacecraft blasted off on April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida.

It spent about 25 hours circling the Earth before leaving the atmosphere. Six days into the mission, the crew reached the moon. It spent seven hours circling the orb seeing parts of it no one has ever laid eyes on before. 

On Tuesday, April 7, the crew began making their way back home.

When will the Orion splash down?

It is believed the Orion will land off the coast of San Diego in the waters of the Pacific Ocean on Friday, April 10, at around 8:07 p.m. ET.

This is a dangerous portion of the mission.

The Orion will enter the Earth’s atmosphere at an extremely fast clip, with a velocity around 33 times faster than the speed of sound. Orion’s service module has to detach to make room for the parachutes that will slow down the craft.

Thankfully, the heat shield will protect the astronauts from the high temperatures reached.

After the big splash, the crew will be taken aboard the USS John P. Murtha for medical evaluation and then transported to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

How can I watch or stream the splashdown live?

To catch all the exciting action, head to NASA’s official channel on YouTube. You can also watch it on NASA+ or via the NASA app, which are both free services.

Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on all platforms.

Until then, you can follow the Orion’s trajectory with NASA’s official tracking tool.