Death, taxes, and now the return of the Artemis II mission on Friday evening. These are the only certainties in life.
Even if the four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft discovered a serious flaw today—and to be clear, everything looks just fine—there is no chance of significantly altering the mission’s return through Earth's atmosphere. They’re coming back one way or another.
Splashdown is predicted for 8:07 pm ET (00:07 UTC Saturday), a few hundred miles off the coast of Southern California. This is the most critical phase of the lunar flight, setting up Orion’s entry into Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, southeast of Hawaii.
This afternoon, if necessary, the Crew Module may make a small final burn to correct its trajectory. Forty-four minutes before splashdown, at 7:33 pm, the Crew Module will separate from the Service Module. Built by the European Space Agency, the Service Module has provided most of Orion’s power and propulsion during the last nine days.
Four minutes later, using small reaction control thrusters, the Crew Module will raise itself away from the Service Module for a final opportunity to fine-tune its angle of entry into the atmosphere. “Let's not beat around the bush—we have to hit that angle correctly,” said Jeff Radigan, one of the mission’s flight directors.
