The Artemis II mission astronauts have crossed the halfway mark between the Moon and Earth, with their capsule set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean<\/a> after a fiery descent lasting about 15 minutes around 8.07pm ET today.<\/p>\n NASA expressed \u201chigh confidence\u201d in the Artemis II<\/a> crew spacecraft\u2019s heat shield<\/a> ahead of Friday\u2019s historic return.<\/p>\n The shield is a critical part of the Orion<\/a> capsule, protecting the crew from exposure to lethal temperatures – reaching up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit – during their high-speed descent<\/a>, which is expected to last less than 15 seconds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 13 minutes of things that have to go right,\u201d Jeff Radigan, NASA\u2019s Artemis II flight director, said yesterday.<\/p>\n There were problems with the heat shield on the first Artemis flight, which had no human passengers. Gases that were generated inside the shield\u2019s outer material were not able to vent as expected, causing cracks<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since then, the shield has undergone extensive testing and Amit Kshatriya, the space agency\u2019s associate administrator, says his confidence in the tech is backed up by engineering and flight data.<\/p>\n The astronauts, including NASA\u2019s Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and the Canadian Space Agency\u2019s Jeremy Hansen were said to be in \u201chigh spirits\u201d as they started their journey to Earth<\/a> following a record-breaking slingshot around the Moon<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/a>Astronauts will endure 3000C heat on journey back to Earth<\/p>\n Here, experts lay out just how intense and extreme the Artemis II crew\u2019s re-entry will be.<\/p>\n Andrew Griffin10 April 2026 14:48<\/p>\n <\/a>When and where will astronauts splash down?<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a full preview of the main event of today \u2013\u00a0the astronauts\u2019 re-entry and splash down.<\/p>\n Andrew Griffin10 April 2026 14:47<\/p>\n <\/a>Astronaut explains how re-entry is like ‘jumping through a ring of fire’<\/p>\n Coming back down is hot. And astronauts are essentially racing that process. Here, Chris Hadfield \u2013 a Canadian astronaut who has flown a number of space missions \u2013\u00a0explains how that feels on the inside.<\/p>\n Andrew Griffin10 April 2026 14:38<\/p>\n <\/a>What will be the most dangerous moment of Artemis II’s return to Earth?<\/p>\n As the Artemis astronauts make their way back to earth, a planetary entry experts says this critical phase of the journey will be one of the most dangerous. <\/p>\n Dr Chris James, who specialises in hypersonic aerothermodynamics at the University of Queensland, said: \u201cThe most dangerous moment will be the high-speed, hypersonic re-entry that occurs as the craft is travelling through the upper atmosphere. This is the riskiest point for several reasons. <\/p>\n \u201cFirstly, it\u2019s when the heating and the forces hitting the craft itself are at their maximum, due to aerodynamic drag slowing the craft from hypersonic speeds of around 11 km per second (greater than Mach 30!).<\/p>\n \u201cSecondly, this is also a scary moment because the gas surrounding the craft is heated up so much that it becomes an electrically conductive plasma \u2013 which blocks communication between the spacecraft and the outside world. This means the astronauts are unable to talk to anybody back on Earth for that short period of time.\u201d <\/p>\n When the astronauts first reach earth\u2019s atmosphere, they will be experiencing fairly high g-forces, and get \u201cthe hell shaken out of them\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n He believes one of the scariest parts will be the communications blackout blocking radio communications, which means they will be completely alone during the harshest parts of the trajectory.<\/p>\n Harriette Boucher10 April 2026 14:11<\/p>\n <\/a>Why did NASA send ‘organ chips’ of the Artemis astronauts into space?<\/p>\n Along with four astronauts, NASA also sent chips of bone marrow grown from the crew\u2019s own cells to space. <\/p>\n Researchers put the USB-sized \u201corgan chips\u201d aboard the Orion spacecraft, as part of a science experiment they hope will help reveal how different space stressors affect tissue before sending the first humans to mars.<\/p>\n The investigation will use the devices to study the effects of increased radiation and microgravity on human health.<\/p>\n Lisa Carnell, from NASA\u2019s biological and physical sciences division, said: \u201cFor NASA, organ chips could provide vital data for protecting astronaut health on deep space missions.\u201d<\/p>\n The chips, which were developed at Harvard, contain tiny channels lined with living cells that replicate the function of human bone marrow.<\/p>\n A matching set of these chips has stayed on Earth to give researchers a controlled comparison.<\/p>\n Harriette Boucher10 April 2026 13:41<\/p>\n <\/a>Artemis astronaut says she has fulfilled her childhood dream<\/p>\n Astronaut Christina Koch said she has fulfilled her childhood dream, as she reflects on how she ended up in space. <\/p>\n \u201cI recently found some photos of myself on a family vacation at Kennedy Space Centre, and were we posing with in front of the Saturn V Rocket.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I could have told that little girl who took home a picture of Earthrise, and hung it in her room, that she would eventually launch from that same place, to see that same view, I’m pretty sure she would not believe it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut even though I still can’t believe it, and she certainly wouldn’t believe it, she chased that dream, and it ended up happening.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s such an honour to hear that we’ve inspire, that’s truly one of the top things that we ever wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Harriette Boucher10 April 2026 13:17<\/p>\n <\/a>Watch: Artemis II crew wake up to ‘Lonesome Drifter’Artemis II crew wake up to ‘Lonesome Drifter’ as final preparations for splashdown near<\/p>\n Daniel Keane10 April 2026 12:30<\/p>\n <\/a>Artemis astronauts hurtle home from moon<\/p>\n The four Artemis II astronauts, returning from the world’s first crewed moon voyage in over half a century, hurtled back toward Earth on Friday aboard their gumdrop-shaped Orion spacecraft, headed for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California.<\/p>\n The finale to NASA’s celebrated 10-day mission was expected to begin with separation of Orion’s crew capsule from \u2060its service module.<\/p>\n This will be followed by a fiery re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere and a six-minute radio blackout before the capsule parachutes into the sea.<\/p>\n If all goes well, astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will end up bobbing safely in the ocean aboard their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, shortly after 0000 GMT off the coast of San Diego.<\/p>\n Vishwam Sankaran10 April 2026 11:43<\/p>\n <\/a>Nasa shares Artemis crew’s ‘Moon joy’ video<\/p>\n Vishwam Sankaran10 April 2026 09:30<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775835743_762_AP26098502340648.jpg\")
(AP)<\/p>\n
![\"Heat](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Heat-shield-from-Artemis-I-test-flight.jpeg\")
Heat shield from Artemis I test flight (Nasa)<\/p>\n