NASA's Artemis II Orion capsule is set to splash down near San Diego at 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, April 10, 2026. The event will conclude the 10-day mission that launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026, with four astronauts orbiting the moon. The splashdown location is expected to be in the Pacific Ocean, approximately 200 miles southwest of the California coast. Officials have not confirmed exact coordinates due to weather and ocean conditions, but the area is likely within the same region where SpaceX's Crew-6 capsule landed in 2023.
Residents of Southern California may see the capsule's descent, though visibility depends on weather. Unlike rocket launches, which often produce bright streaks visible from land, splashdowns are harder to observe from shore. SpaceX's Dragon Endurance spacecraft left a visible trail during its 2023 landing near Tampa, but Orion's reentry will be darker and less predictable. NASA has not released details on whether the capsule will deploy parachutes during descent, as previous missions have done.
The Artemis II crew spent six days in space, including a historic lunar flyby on April 6, 2026. During the flyby, astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover of NASA, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency observed the moon's far side, which never faces Earth. The mission marked the farthest human journey from Earth since the Apollo program, reaching 270,000 miles from the moon.
NASA and media outlets have documented the mission extensively, but splashdowns remain less common in public view. The Orion capsule will land in the ocean, where recovery teams will retrieve it. No details have been shared about whether the splashdown will be broadcast live, though the launch was widely viewed. The event will be the first splashdown for Artemis II, which aims to test systems for future moon landings.
The mission's success has drawn attention from Brevard County, where Kennedy Space Center is located. Local officials have highlighted the economic and scientific impact of the Artemis program, which includes plans for a lunar base by the 2030s. The splashdown will be the final major event for Artemis II before the crew returns to Earth for a 10-day quarantine period.