Science and Technology

EXPLAINER

NASA prepares for Artemis II splashdown: When it happens and how to watch

The Orion spacecraft will make its return to Earth at 00:07 GMT, splashing down off the San Diego coast.

Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window on April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew's flyby of the Moon. [Handout/NASA/Getty Images via AFP]

The Orion spacecraft, crescent moon and a crescent Earth on April 6, 2026. [Handout/NASA via AFP]

Earth sets over the moon's curved limb in this photo captured by the Artemis II crew during their journey around the far side of the moon. [Handout/NASA/Getty Images via AFP]

The Artemis II astronauts wrapped up their lunar flyby as they continue their journey back to Earth. [Handout/NASA via AFP]

The Orion spacecraft and the moon backlit by the sun during a solar eclipse on April 6, 2026. [Handout/NASA via AFP]

The moon fully eclipsing the sun. [Handout/NASA/Getty Images via AFP]

The heavily cratered terrain of the eastern edge of the South Pole-Aitken basin of the moon, as seen from the Orion spacecraft on April 6, 2026. [Handout/NASA via AFP]

A close-up view of the Vavilov Crater on the rim of the older and larger Hertzsprung basin of the moon, as seen from the Orion spacecraft. [Handout/NASA via AFP]

The moon with the Orientale basin visible in the centre, with a black patch of ancient lava in the center that punched through the moon's crust in an eruption billions of years ago. [Handout/NASA via AFP]

EXPLAINER

A visual guide to Artemis II and previous missions to the moon

Artemis II is expected to break the record for the farthest distance humans have travelled from Earth.

A view of Earth taken by Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft’s windows after the crew completed the translunar injection burn to send the craft towards the moon on April 2, 2026. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

A view of the Orion capsule taken with a camera mounted on one of its solar array wings during a routine external inspection of the spacecraft on the second day of the Artemis II mission towards the Moon. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

A view of the moon taken by one of the Artemis II's four crew members through the window of the Orion spacecraft on the third day of the NASA mission. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows for a look back at Earth. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

The Artemis II mission left Earth on April 1, 2026, on a 10-day journey around the moon and back. [Handout/NASA via AP]

The crew is expected to swing around the far side of the moon early this coming week, a manoeuvre not tried in more than 50 years. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

Overnight from Sunday into Monday US time, Orion is due to enter what NASA calls the “lunar sphere of influence” when the moon's gravity will have a stronger pull on the spacecraft than the Earth's. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]

Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch is on board the Orion with her fellow Americans Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover and Canadian Jeremy Hansen, also a mission specialist. [Handout/NASA via Reuters]