The crew of Artemis II have officially made history – but their most dangerous moment is still ahead of them.

More than a week after launching on April 1, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, have now begun their journey back to Earth following a record-breaking mission behind the Moon.

The milestone came during a seven-hour lunar flyby, which included a 40-minute communications blackout as the spacecraft passed around the far side of the Moon.

But while the achievement marks a major step forward for NASA’s deep space ambitions, attention is now turning to what many consider the riskiest phase of the mission: re-entry.

Artemis II return to Earth

The Orion spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on Friday, April 10, with a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 p.m. ET (1:07 a.m. BST). Instead of landing on solid ground, the crew will descend by parachute into open water, where recovery teams will be waiting, according to Tyla.

The United States Navy has deployed the USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26) to retrieve both the astronauts and the capsule, while a Navy helicopter will track Orion during its high-speed descent.

According to the BBC, the spacecraft will slam into Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h) – conditions that cannot be fully replicated in simulations.

The risks are not theoretical. During the uncrewed Artemis I mission in December 2022, Orion’s heat shield experienced unexpected charring and cracking upon re-entry. The issue prompted an investigation that delayed Artemis II by more than a year.

NASA administrator Jared Isaacman acknowledged the significance of the moment in a post on X: “Before they left, they said they hoped this mission would be forgotten, but it will be remembered as the moment people started to believe that America can once again do the near-impossible and change the world.

“This mission isn’t over until they’re under safe parachutes, splashing down into the Pacific.”