The record-breaking Artemis II crew is scheduled to touch down on Earth on Friday (April 10) at 8:07 p.m. ET. They will land off the coast of San Diego and the live telecast of the event will begin at 6:30 pm (4 am Saturday IST).
Artemis II splashdown: When can you start watching the NASA live stream?
Start a live broadcast US time: 6.30pm on Friday
Indian Time: 4:00 on a Saturday
British Time: On Friday at 11:30 p.m
Canada Time: 6.30pm on Friday
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Artemis II splashdown: Where can you watch NASA live?
LIVE and original programming is available on NASA’s free streaming platform, NASA+. Programming is also available on the NASA app, third-party streaming services and social media platforms.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfhDuOHMp0A
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NASA/
NASA Twitch TV: https://www.twitch.tv/nasa
NASA+: https://plus.nasa.gov/
Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZVR87LQ
HBO Max: https://www.hbomax.com/geo-availability
PeacockTV: https://www.peacocktv.com/unavailable
Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/82066548
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How will the splashdown go?
Before splashdown, the Artemis II crew module separates from the service module, whose engines have steered them around the moon and back to Earth.
“This will expose the crew module’s heat shield, which will protect the spacecraft and crew as they travel back through Earth’s atmosphere and temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit,” NASA explained.
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Once safely through the heat of reentry, the shroud that protected the spacecraft’s forward compartment will be jettisoned to make way for the deployment of a series of parachutes—two brake parachutes that will slow the capsule to about 307 miles per hour, followed by three pilot parachutes that will deploy the final three main parachutes.
These will slow Orion to about 17 mph to splash down in the Pacific Ocean, where NASA and US Navy personnel will be waiting to terminate the Artemis II mission.
Artemis II Grand Moon Finale: All eyes on the Orion heatshield
Artemis II astronauts will aim for a splashdown in the Pacific on Friday to conclude humanity’s first trip to the moon in more than half a century.
All eyes are on the capsule’s life-preserving heat shield, which must withstand temperatures of up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit during reentry.
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On the spacecraft’s only other test flight — in 2022, with no one aboard — the charred exterior of the shield returned looking scratched like the moon.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen were on track to hit the atmosphere at Mach 32 — or 32 times the speed of sound — a blistering burst not seen since the Apollo lunar pictures of the 1960s and 1970s.
Record crew
Artemis II did not land on or orbit the Moon. However, it broke the distance record set by Apollo 13, making Wiseman and his crew the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth, reaching 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers).
Then, in the mission’s most difficult scene, the tearful astronauts asked permission to name a pair of craters after their lunar ship and Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.
During the record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes from the far side of the moon never before seen with the naked eye, and thanks to the date of their launch, they enjoyed a total solar eclipse courtesy of the cosmos. The eclipse, in particular, “just blew us all away,” Glover said.
