Photo: JIM WATSON / AFP / Getty Images
Reid Wiseman, an RPI graduate and NASA astronaut, is returning to Earth today (April 10) after a historic mission as part of the Artemis Two crew. The mission, which launched on April 1 from Cape Canaveral, served as a test flight for NASA's ambitious plan to send astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972. The crew is expected to splash down off the coast of San Diego this evening.
The Artemis Two mission, which lasted 10 days, marked the first crewed journey to the moon in over 50 years. Alongside Wiseman, the crew included pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. During their mission, they completed a lunar flyby, passing within about 4,067 miles of the moon's surface, and set a new distance record of approximately 252,000 miles from Earth, surpassing the Apollo 13 mission.
The crew's return will be broadcast live, with coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. EDT on various platforms, including NASA's YouTube channel and other streaming services like Amazon Prime and Netflix. The splashdown is scheduled for approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT. According to Space.com, the Orion capsule, nicknamed Integrity, will endure temperatures of up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit during reentry, with a heat shield protecting the crew. Parachutes will deploy to slow the capsule before it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.
The mission is a significant step in NASA's Artemis program, which aims to establish a permanent human presence on the moon. Future missions, including Artemis 4, plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2028. As reported by Florida Today, the mission sets the stage for building a moon base and eventually sending humans to Mars.