NASA Artemis II astronauts prepare to end moon mission in ‘fireball’ re-entry

SPLASHDOWN

The crew is due to return to Earth on Friday around 8pm (8am, Singapore time, Saturday), splashing down off the coast of San Diego, California to cap their nearly 10-day mission.

The four astronauts on Monday had reached a record-breaking distance from Earth of roughly 252,000 miles, surpassing by some 4,000 miles the previous record held by the Apollo 13 crew for 56 years.

Wiseman, Artemis II mission commander, told reporters the crew each had two “very brief” chats with their families during the mission.

“Hearing your crew mates giggling and crying, and just gasping and listening and loving their families from afar – familiy is so important to all four of us, and that has been amazing,” he said.

In a radio message to mission control in Houston on Monday, as the crew approached their closest distance to the lunar surface, Hansen suggested naming a fresh crater on the moon in honour of Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020.

Wiseman told reporters his crewmates approached him with the idea to name the crater Carroll while they were in quarantine before launching to space.

“That was an emotional moment for me,” Wiseman said. “I said ‘Absolutely, I would love that’ … but I can’t give the speech. I can’t give the talk.”