NASA’s Artemis II mission is scheduled to conclude April 10 with the splashdown of the Orion capsule in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, Calif., at approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT. The 10-day mission carried astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen on a lunar flight, marking the first human deep space mission in more than 50 years.
A U.S. Navy dive medical team will be the first personnel to make contact with the crew following reentry. The four-person team—Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Wang, Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Laddy Aldridge, Chief Hospital Corpsman Vlad Link, and Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Steve Kapala—will open the capsule, conduct initial medical assessments, and assist the astronauts out of the spacecraft.
Each corpsman is assigned to provide one-on-one assistance to a specific astronaut. The team has trained for several years as first-contact medical providers inside the capsule environment.
Following splashdown, Navy divers will secure the capsule and deploy an inflatable raft. The medical team will enter the Orion capsule, perform initial exams, and assist the crew during egress. The astronauts will then be prepared for airlift by Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 to the amphibious transport dock USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) for further evaluation.
The John P. Murtha is currently underway in the region performing live fire demonstrations and conducting flight operations.
U.S. Navy divers assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 1 are operating from John P. Murtha in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations in support of the mission.
According to NASA and the Navy, the crew is expected to be flown to the John P. Murtha within approximately two hours of splashdown. The astronauts will then return to shore before traveling to Johnson Space Center in Houston for post-mission processing.
