Artemis Two To Splash Down Tonight Near San Diego

In this image provided by NASA, Artemis II crew members, from left, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch, pause to turn the camera around for a selfie midway through their lunar observation period of the Moon during a lunar flyby, Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)

The crew of the Artemis Two lunar mission will be back on Earth later today. The Orion spacecraft carrying the four astronauts will splash down in the Pacific tonight off the coast of California.

The USS John P. Murtha will recover the crew at about 5:07pm Pacific Time near San Diego. NASA says the spacecraft will reach a top speed of nearly 24-thousand miles-per-hour as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere, and will be slowed down by parachutes. Shortly after hitting the water, five airbags will deploy to keep the capsule upright while the astronauts are recovered.