"The Artemis II crew is in for a wild ride on Friday, when their Orion capsule will carry them home through Earth's atmosphere. Over the course of less than an hour, the capsule will shed its clunky service module and dive toward Earth at 24,000 miles per hour."
"If all goes according to plan, its protective heat shield and a sequence of massive parachutes will ensure that the capsule and the four astronauts inside will land with a gentle splash in the Pacific Ocean at a leisurely 17 miles per hour."
"As soon as Orion splashes down, the crew will be busy shutting down the spacecraft, figuring out where they are and opening the hatch. During that time... NASA's waiting recovery team will come to meet the astronauts and fish them out of the capsule."
The Artemis II mission has launched four astronauts on a journey around the moon. The Orion capsule will return to Earth, shedding its service module and entering the atmosphere at 24,000 miles per hour. The crew will experience various pyrotechnic events during the descent. Upon splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, the astronauts will shut down the spacecraft and await recovery by NASA's team. They are expected to be onboard the USS John P. Murtha within an hour of landing.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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