NASA and the Department of Defense will showcase Artemis II recovery operations for astronauts and the Orion spacecraft after their mission around the Moon on March 31.
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| NASA will demonstrate the recovery operations for Artemis II astronauts and the Orion spacecraft on March 31 at Naval Base San Diego, showcasing the mission's successful return. Image: NASA |
Washington, USA — March 25, 2025:
NASA, in partnership with the Department of Defense, will provide an exclusive preview of the recovery operations designed to bring the Artemis II astronauts and the Orion spacecraft home after their groundbreaking mission around the Moon. This special event will take place on Monday, March 31, 2025, at 3 p.m. PDT at Naval Base San Diego in California. The event will be open only to journalists.
A dedicated team of NASA and Department of Defense personnel is currently conducting practice recovery procedures in the Pacific Ocean, where the splashdown will occur. These operations will help recover the astronauts after their 600,000-mile journey from Earth to the Moon and back, marking the first crewed mission in the Artemis program. A test version of the Orion spacecraft and other critical hardware will also be available for media representatives to view.
Key participants in the event will include Liliana Villarreal, NASA's Artemis II landing and recovery director, Capt. Andrew "Andy" Koy, commanding officer of USS Somerset (LPD 25), and Lt. Col. David Mahan, commander of U.S. Air Force's 1st Air Force, Detachment 3. Additionally, several astronauts involved in the recovery testing will be available for interviews.
Artemis II will serve as the first crewed test flight of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft, paving the way for future crewed lunar missions. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen will venture around the Moon as part of this critical mission. This milestone marks a significant step forward in preparing for future lunar surface explorations and long-term astronaut missions to Mars.