The four Artemis II astronauts, returning from the world’s first crewed moon voyage in over half a century, hurtled back towards Earth on Friday as they prepared their Orion spacecraft for the final phase of their descent and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California. On Friday afternoon, the autonomously piloted Orion crew capsule executed one last eight-second firing of its jet thrusters to fine-tune the flight course, a critical manoeuvre to ensure a safe return. Nasa’s...
The Orion spacecraft will make its return to Earth at 00:07 GMT, splashing down off the San Diego coast.
They are sipping smoothies, snapping phone pics, dealing with crashed email and fixing broken toilets: astronauts, they are just like us. The four crew members zipping through space towards the moon are carrying out a mission unlike any before it, but they are also still muddling on through life’s mundanities – all while they float around together in a square footage equivalent to two minivans. Mission specialist Christina Koch, the first woman to venture into deep space, said preparing for the...