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NASA Artemis II Splashdown: Watch Live Friday 8:07 PM ET

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NASA's Artemis II mission will conclude Friday when the Orion capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego at approximately 8:07 p.m. Eastern time. The 10-day mission marks the first crewed deep space flight in over 50 years, carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen on a journey around the moon.

NASA will begin streaming the return at 6:30 p.m. Friday on YouTube, X, the agency's website, and smart TV apps. The spacecraft will re-enter Earth's atmosphere at nearly 24,000 miles per hour, using parachutes to slow to about 20 m.p.h. before splashdown. Recovery teams from NASA and the U.S. Navy will retrieve the capsule and transport the crew to the USS John P. Murtha for medical evaluations before returning to Houston.

The mission tested critical technologies including new spacesuits designed for emergency breathing and the first deep space toilet. The crew also conducted docking maneuvers and captured unprecedented images of lunar features from the far side of the moon, including naming craters after their spacecraft and a crew member's late wife.