As NASA’s historic Artemis II mission concludes its 10-day journey around the Moon, the Orion spacecraft is set for a high-stakes “fireball” re-entry. For space enthusiasts in India, the splashdown will occur in the early hours of Saturday morning, marking the end of the first crewed lunar mission in over half a century.
The four-person crew comprising NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen is currently preparing for a precision landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California.
The mission has already set a new human spaceflight record, marking the longest distance covered by humans outside earth of approximately 252,000 miles.
When to Watch: The India Timeline
The splashdown is scheduled for the evening of April 10 in the United States, which translates to a pre-dawn event on Saturday, April 11 for viewers in India. A point wise timeline of key moments of Artemis II’s historic homecoming have been listed below for the readers.
While the live broadcast to show the Artemis’ homecoming will begin at 4 AM (IST), the splashdown is expected to take place around 5:37 AM (IST) on Saturday morning. Notably, one of the most looked forward to part of Artemis’ return would be the aircraft’s critical descent through Earth’s atmosphere that begins roughly 20 minutes prior to splashdown.
Where to watch? NASA YouTube channel or Netflix
NASA has ensured multi-platform accessibility for the return of the Orion capsule. Indian viewers can tune into the live feed through the following channels:
NASA’s Official Platforms: The primary high-definition stream will be available on NASA+, the agency’s dedicated streaming service, and the official NASA Website.
YouTube: The NASA official YouTube channel will host a live 4K stream, which is the most accessible option for smart TV and mobile users in India.
Netflix: In a landmark partnership, Netflix will broadcast the splashdown live globally. The “NASA+ Live” integration on Netflix is scheduled to go live at 4:00 AM IST.
The ‘Fireball’ re-entry: What to expect
The final leg of the journey is the most intense phase of the mission, requiring the Orion spacecraft to hit Earth’s atmosphere at a staggering 40,000 km/h. This extreme velocity creates intense friction, turning the air around the capsule into a 2,700°C fireball.
During this peak heating phase, a “plasma envelope” forms around the ship, cutting off all radio signals and forcing a nerve-wracking six-minute communications blackout between the astronauts and Mission Control.
To manage these extreme thermal loads, NASA is using a specific “lofted” descent path to protect the heat shield.
Once through the heat, a complex sequence of 11 parachutes will deploy to slow the spacecraft from thousands of kilometres per hour to a gentle 32 km/h splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Waiting at the precise landing site off the coast of San Diego, the USS John P. Murtha will be on standby to retrieve the crew and their capsule, safely concluding the historic 10-day lunar mission.