NASA’s Record-Setting Orion Moon Capsule Splashes Down Today, Here’s How To Watch

NASA's Orion spacecraft is on the last leg of its inaugural flight, as it prepares to make re-entry into Earth's atmosphere later today. The spacecraft is set to splashdown off the Baja Coast near Guadalupe Island at approximately 11:39 a.m. CST (12:39 p.m. EST) on Sunday, December 11, 2022.

The Artemis I mission made its fift return trajectory correction burn at around 2:32 p.m. CST, Saturday, December 10, 2022. The spacecraft fired its auxiliary engines for 8 seconds, accelerating the spacecraft by 3.4 mph (5 feet per second) to ensure Orion was on the correct course for its upcoming splashdown. Orion also made a sixth and final trajectory correction burn just five hours ahead of it beginning its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. NASA will be hosting a live event that is set to begin at 11 a.m. EST on NASA TV (see below for coverage).


During Orion's return to Earth, NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) will provide communications for the final trajectory correction burn, spacecraft separation, re-entry through Earth's atmosphere, and splashdown. Communications will switch just before the service module makes separation from the crew module to NASA's Deep Space Network to its Near Space Network for the rest of the mission. Communication will be interrupted briefly during re-entry, as intense heat generated as Orion "encounters the atmosphere turns the air surrounding the capsule into plasma and briefly disrupts communication with the spacecraft."

Teams have already arrived at the splashdown location off the coast of Baja. The ship onto which Orion will eventually be hoisted into, personnel are preparing by running simulations to ensure the process of the landing and recovery go as smoothly as possible. Teams consist of personnel and assets from the U.S. Department of Defense, including Navy amphibious specialists and Space Force weather specialists, engineers and technicians from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Lockheed Martin Space Operations.

Once the spacecraft makes splashdown, teams will attempt to recover any hardware jettisoned during landing, which includes the forward bay cover and three main parachutes. A four-person team called "Sasquatch" will also be aboard the U.S. Navy ship to identify the footprint of hardware released from the capsule and any additional elements for analysis later.

Be sure to tune in above for live coverage of the splashdown beginning at 11 a.m. EST today. A post-splashdown briefing is scheduled for around 3:30 p.m. EST.