Watch Live: Artemis II Splash Down

SAN DIEGO, CA (KIFI) — History is just hours away. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, are entering the final stages of their record-breaking journey. After traveling deeper into space than any humans in history, the Artemis II crew is scheduled to splash down off the coast of San Diego today, Friday, April 10, at approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT (6:07 p.m. MDT).

Watch the Artemis II Splashdown Coverage Live below starting at 6 p.m. MST:

This mission marks the first human return to lunar orbit in over 50 years, signaling a pivotal milestone in humanity's quest to establish a long-term presence on the Moon.

NASA has outlined the following critical milestones for the Orion Spacecraft's return:

NASA has provided the following timeline for the Orion Spacecraft's final stages of descent:

• 7:33 p.m.: Orion’s crew module will separate from the service module, exposing its heat shield for the spacecraft’s return through Earth’s atmosphere, where it will encounter temperatures of about 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
• 7:37 p.m.: Following separation, Orion will perform an 18 second crew module raise burn beginning to set the proper entry angle and align the heat shield for atmospheric interface.
• 7:53 p.m.: When Orion reaches 400,000 feet above Earth’s surface while traveling nearly 35 times the speed of sound. The crew is expected to experience up to 3.9 Gs in the planned entry profile. This moment marks the spacecraft’s first contact with the upper atmosphere and the start of a planned six-minute communications blackout as plasma builds around the capsule.
• 8:03 p.m.: Around 22,000 feet in altitude, the drogue parachutes will deploy, slowing and stabilizing the capsule as Orion nears splashdown.
• 8:04 p.m.: At around 6,000 feet, the drogues will release, and the three main parachutes will deploy, reducing Orion’s speed to less than 136 mph.
• 8:07 p.m.: Slowing to 20 mph, Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, completing the Artemis II crew’s return to Earth and a 694,481-mile journey.
• From there, teams from NASA and the U.S. military will extract the crew from Orion and fly them via helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha.
• Within two hours after splashdown, the crew will be extracted from Orion and flown to the USS Murtha. Recovery teams will retrieve the crew, assist them onto an inflatable raft, and then use helicopters to deliver them to the ship. Once aboard, the astronauts will undergo post‑mission medical evaluations before returning to shore where awaiting aircraft will take them to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston..

For more information on the Artemis II mission and return, click HERE.