Orion spacecraft from Artemis 2 mission has completed its final maneuver before atmospheric reentry, the most critical phase of the journey. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen face a 13-minute descent at over 40,000 km/h and temperatures above 2,500 degrees, with splashdown planned off San Diego.
The four Artemis 2 astronauts, after a nine-day lunar mission, face reentry scheduled for early April 11 in peninsular Spanish time. Separation from the European service module occurred at 01:33, followed by an 18-second burn to align the heat shield. At 01:53, the spacecraft will reach 122 km altitude at nearly 35 times the speed of sound, starting a six-minute communications blackout due to plasma.
Victor Glover described it: “We’ll be riding on a ball of fire through the atmosphere.” The heat shield, damaged in Artemis 1, raised concerns, so NASA shortened reentry from 20 to 13 minutes. Parachutes will deploy at 6,700 m and 1,800 m, with splashdown at 02:07 off San Diego.
The crew, now in orange pressure suits, deactivated the spacecraft toilet. The USS John P. Murtha awaits recovery, with favorable weather. The mission set a distance record at 406,771 km from Earth.
NASA’s Philip Baldwin highlighted the key role of Madrid’s Robledo de Chavela station in trajectory commands.
