Artemis II Splashes Down Near San Diego Coast

The astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II returned to Earth safely in a capsule that splashed down yesterday in the Pacific Ocean.

The four astronauts – Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – set off on their initial voyage on April 1. NASA intended to send them to the Moon and back, with the Orion spacecraft conducting a brief flyby of the Moon before heading back to Earth, and the entire mission was executed as planned.

Yesterday, at exactly 5:07 pm local time, the spacecraft successfully splashed down off the coast of San Diego, California, in the Pacific Ocean after a red-hot re-entry. Reaching temperatures of over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit with an entry speed of over 25,000 miles per hour, the module's journey through the atmosphere was not one to miss.

The spacecraft's atmospheric re-entry is also the most dangerous part of the process– even a single issue can compound quickly in those situations. To prepare, NASA equipped Orion with a heat shield that protects against extreme temperatures, but this is risky. NASA engineers confirmed that the more important factor in re-entry was the angle, which determined the amount of stress on different parts of the heat shield and, therefore, the spacecraft.

After their successful splashdown, the astronauts now return to Earth with countless incredible photographs, which arrive alongside crucial data from complex technological tests across Orion. NASA plans to reuse the spacecraft for future Artemis missions, so this had been a crucial test flight.

The mission also makes this group of four astronauts the farthest-traveling in history, having reached a peak distance of 252,756 miles from Earth. They are also the first to venture into deep space in more than 50 years– the last time a nation sent astronauts to the Moon was NASA's launch of Apollo 17 in 1972.

Fact of the Day (The Fact Site): The average US household has 300,000 items, ranging from paper clips to ironing boards. US children make up 3.7% of children on the planet but have 47% of all toys and children’s books.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must; just never give up. (Dean Karnazes)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Glaucous (adj, GLAW-kus) - Glaucous as a color word can describe things of two rather different shades: a light bluish-gray or bluish-white color, or a pale yellow-green. It can also mean "having a powdery or waxy coating that gives a frosted appearance and tends to rub off."

In a Sentence: His glaucous eyes grew wide with curiosity.

Image credit to NASA