What time will Artemis II crew splashdown on Earth today and how to watch ‘fireball’ return

It comes after 10 days of space travel

The record-breaking space mission saw the crew travel the farthest any human has ever gone from Earth, 252,757 miles (406,772km). 

The mission also saw a number of eye-catching photos of the Moon and Earth taken and released to the public.

After 10 days of space travel, the crew will soon be splashing down on Earth, returning as heroes and pioneers.

The Orion, the ship the crew is on, is already half way home and has completed two correction burns to prepare for eventual re-entry.

A third burn is scheduled for around 18:53pm (BST).

The burns will help reduce Orion's trajectory so that the ship is on course for the Earth's atmposphere.

The atmosphere helps to reduce speed through friction as air molecules strike the vehicle.

This process generates a massive amount of heat with the spacecraft's heat shield reaching temperatures as hot as 1,600C.

The violent friction creates an orange/red glow of superheated plasma around the vehicle.

The spacecraft will reach speeds of up to 23,839 mph (38,365 kph) upon its re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.

Speaking about the return, pilot in the Artemis II crew Victor Glover recently said : "I've actually been thinking about entry since 3 April, 2023, when we got assigned to this mission.

"There are so many more pictures and stories, and I haven't even begun ​to process what we've been through. We've still got two more days, and riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well." 

When the capsule has slowed down enough to a safe speed and temperature, drogue parachutes and then main parachutes are released to bring the crew home slowly and safely.

Orion is set to splash down in the sea off the coast of San Diego at 01:07 BST (20:07 in the US).

You can watch the dramatic return on numerous YouTube channels which will be streaming the event live, notably on NASA's channel.