Here's what will happen with Artemis II after Friday's splashdown off San Diego coast

NASA's Artemis II mission, carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, is scheduled to conclude with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday, December 20, 2024, marking the successful end of humanity's first crewed lunar flyby mission in over 50 years and a critical test of the Orion spacecraft's systems for future Moon landings. Following the splashdown, a meticulously coordinated recovery operation led by NASA and the U.S. Navy will commence. The primary recovery ship, the USS *Portland*, along with a fleet of support vessels and helicopters, will move to secure the Orion capsule. The first priority is ensuring the immediate safety and health of the crew after their roughly 10-day journey. Navy divers will first assess the spacecraft, attach a stabilization collar, and then assist the astronauts as they egress the capsule one by one. They will be transported via helicopter to the USS *Portland* for initial medical checks. The post-splashdown timeline is packed with critical activities. After the crew's departure, teams will work to recover the Orion capsule itself, towing it into the well deck of the recovery ship. The spacecraft, which endured the extreme heat of re-entry, will undergo initial inspections. A major objective is preserving data and samples from the mission. This includes retrieving scientific payloads and downloading the vast amounts of engineering data recorded during the flight, which is essential for validating the spacecraft's performance. The capsule will eventually be transported back to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a more thorough post-flight analysis. This successful conclusion is the final major milestone for Artemis II, paving the way for Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts, including the first woman and first person of color, on the lunar surface later this decade. The data from this mission will be scrutinized to certify all systems for the longer, more complex missions to come.