Riskiest moments of NASA's Artemis II mission are still ahead as astronauts prepare for landing

The astronauts on NASA's Artemis II moon mission are scheduled to land on Earth on Friday. But their re-entry is one of the riskiest parts of the mission, and the Orion spacecraft has known design flaws.

The four astronauts who flew around the moon on NASA's Artemis II mission are nearly home, but one of the most dangerous and nerve-racking parts of the mission is still ahead.

Subscribe to read this story ad-free

Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen are set to return to Earth on Friday evening after 10 days in space.

Their Orion capsule is scheduled to begin plunging through the atmosphere at around 7:53 p.m. ET on a fiery journey expected to last less than 15 minutes. If all goes well, the mission will culminate in a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 8:07 p.m. ET off San Diego.