- Astronauts on the Artemis II moon mission will experience another communications blackout as they return to Earth Friday night.
- Orion is expected to make contact with the Earth’s upper atmosphere at around 7:53 pm EDT/12:53 am BST, which will mark the start of a planned six-minute communications blackout as plasma builds around the capsule.
- The crew will be 400,000 feet above Earth’s surface at that time while traveling nearly 35 times the speed of sound. The crew is expected to experience up to 3.9 Gs in the planned entry profile.
- Moments later, at 8:03 pm EDT/1:03 am BST, drogue parachutes will deploy, slowing and stabilizing the capsule as Orion nears splashdown. Three main parachutes will deploy a minute later, reducing Orion’s speed to less than 136 miles per hour.
- It will then slow to 20 mph and Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 pm EDT/1:07 am BST, completing the Artemis II crew’s return to Earth and a 694,481-mile journey.
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