The Artemis II spacecraft has splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, but there is one last step for the mission.
The four astronauts will still be dozens of miles from land, bobbing in a spacecraft that just endured searing temperatures close to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
After splashdown, five airbags on top of the Orion capsule have inflated to reorient the capsule upward in case it had landed upside down. The bags would also keep Orion stable through potentially rough waves or winds, as the crew awaits the recovery team.
At this point, recovery personnel from NASA and the U.S. Navy will already be out at sea, tracking the capsule and other pieces of jettisoned hardware, including the three main parachutes.
Navy divers will approach Orion aboard inflatable boats, and then check whether it is safe for the astronauts to exit. They will then attach an inflatable collar around the capsule to add stability and an inflatable platform, called the front porch, to help recover the astronauts.
One by one, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen will then exit the capsule onto the front porch, where they will individually be lifted by helicopter and flown to the U.S.S. John P. Murtha. This process is expected to be completed within two hours of splashdown, according to NASA.
The recovery team will then secure the spacecraft with a series of lines and slowly tow it to the ship, which has a well deck at the waterline to store the Orion capsule.
Aboard the Murtha, the crew will undergo medical evaluations before returning to shore and flying to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The spacecraft, along with other recovered hardware, will also be transported to a pier at the U.S. Naval Base San Diego, and then eventually returned to Houston.
Ashley Ahn covers breaking news for The Times from New York.
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