The astronauts are set to splash down off the coast of San Diego, California
7:33 pm EDT/12:33 am BST: 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.
7:37 pm EDT/12:37 am BST: 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 pm EDT/12:53 am BST: Orion will be 400,000 feet above Earth’s surface while traveling nearly 35 times the speed of sound, and 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 pm EDT/1:03 am BST: Around 22,000 feet in altitude, the drogue parachutes will deploy, slowing and stabilizing the capsule as Orion nears splashdown.
8:04 pm EDT/1:04 am BST: 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 pm EDT/1:07 am BST: 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.
