Four astronauts of the Artemis II mission are completing their flight around the Moon and preparing to return to Earth with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. This is reported by Reuters, writes UNN.
Details
The Orion capsule performed its final course correction maneuver, firing its engines for eight seconds for precise atmospheric entry. After this, the spacecraft is to separate its service module and proceed to the descent phase using parachutes.
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The splashdown is expected to occur off the coast of California near San Diego after a brief period of communication loss during atmospheric entry.
Crew and Mission
The crew includes American astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Jeremy Hansen. The mission lasted 10 days and was the first crewed journey to the Moon in over 50 years.
The astronauts launched on April 1 from Cape Canaveral on a Space Launch System rocket, flew around the far side of the Moon, and traveled further into space than any previous crewed mission.