Artemis II Splashdown: Even with reusable rockets, autonomous docking and decades of spaceflight experience, NASA still sends its astronaut capsules splashing into the ocean.

The Artemis II mission will end Friday with a water landing off the coast of San Diego. The reason is simple: water is forgiving. A capsule reentering Earth’s atmosphere endures extreme heat and intense pressure. Hitting water absorbs much of that landing force, especially for blunt-bodied spacecraft like Orion that descend under parachutes rather than gliding like an airplane.

Landing on solid ground requires retro-rockets or wheels. Splashing down requires only a broad ocean and a waiting Navy ship.

Artemis II Splashdown: Why Not Just Land on a Runway?

Runway landings work for space shuttles and some experimental vehicles, but they require wings, landing gear and precise steering. Orion is a capsule, not a glider. Its shape is optimized for reentry survival, not for flying to a runway. Parachutes slow it down, but they cannot steer it to a precise point.

The ocean offers mission planners something a runway never could: room for error. A capsule coming in from space has a large target zone. Teams can aim for a broad area of the Pacific, far from cities and towns, and position recovery ships nearby. If something goes wrong with the parachutes or guidance, the capsule still ends up in water, not on someone’s house.

Artemis II Splashdown: Most Missions Return Over Water Anyway

Spacecraft launch over the ocean whenever possible. Boosters drop into the sea. Staging happens above water. The same logic applies to returns. Earth’s surface is mostly ocean. Rather than fighting geometry and physics to reach a small patch of desert or a single runway, mission planners let the capsule come down where it naturally wants to: over the vast Pacific.

The Artemis II splashdown is scheduled for approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 10, off the coast of San Diego.

Artemis II Splashdown: What Ship Is Recovering the Astronauts?

The USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26) is the primary recovery ship. It is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock based in San Diego, measuring 684 feet long with a 105-foot beam. The ship displaces nearly 25,000 tons and can reach speeds of 22 knots.

The Murtha carries a crew of 28 officers and 332 enlisted personnel, plus up to 800 Marines in surge conditions. Its well deck can hold two Landing Craft Air Cushions or one Landing Craft Utility. The flight deck can launch and recover two MV-22 Osprey or CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters simultaneously.

Artemis II Splashdown: How Does the Recovery Work?

After splashdown, Navy divers will extract the astronauts from the Orion capsule and move them to an inflatable raft called the “front porch.” Two MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters will then fly the crew directly to the USS John P. Murtha for medical evaluations.

Once the crew is safe, specialized teams will tow the Orion capsule into the ship’s well deck for transport back to Naval Base San Diego. The entire operation is a carefully choreographed dance between NASA and the US Navy.

Artemis II Splashdown: Who Is the Ship Named After?