Orion will slam into Earth's atmosphere at more than 30 times the speed of sound, in what NASA expects to be the most demanding part of the Artemis II moon mission.

The soft, smiling figure is flying aboard the Orion spacecraft with the other four astronauts as they make history.

The Artemis II crew was able to witness countless rare sights on its historic lunar flyby journey, including the sun completely disappearing behind the moon

Over the past eight days, the world has watched four intrepid explorers leave Earth, fly around the Moon, and make spaceflight history. The moments of reverence, camaraderie, and bravery we’ve witnessed since the launch of NASA’s Artemis 2 mission have done wonders for my faith in humanity, but sadly, all good things must come to an end.

NASA's Artemis II mission is returning to Earth after its lunar flyby. Here's when and how to watch its splashdown off the California coast.

The Artemis II crew woke up 237,115 kilometres above Earth on Thursday. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch began their last full day

The Orion capsule is expected to splash down at about 7:07 p.m. Central time in the Pacific near San Diego. Watch live return coverage on NASA+ , Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Netflix, HBO Max, Discovery+, Peacock and Roku starting at 5:30 p.m.

NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman’s wife, Carroll, was 46 years old when she died of cancer. The nurse inspired the Artemis II crew to name a moon crater after her.