Spacecraft fine-tunes reentry angle
Orion performed a brief raise burn -- a firing of the thrusters -- that fine-tunes the reentry angle of the spacecraft to minimize the time the heat shield will experience high temperatures.
After their historic lunar flyby, the crew safely splashed down in the Pacific.
NASA's Artemis II mission lifted off on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The four-person crew completed a 695,081-mile, 10-day journey around the moon, also known as a lunar fly-by.
A "textbook" splashdown took place at 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, April 10.
Orion performed a brief raise burn -- a firing of the thrusters -- that fine-tunes the reentry angle of the spacecraft to minimize the time the heat shield will experience high temperatures.
Orion's crew module has separated from the European Service Module, exposing the heat shield that will protect the spacecraft during its high-speed travel through the Earth's atmosphere.
That shield will withstand temperatures of up to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit during the high-speed entry.

U.S. Navy divers could be seen preparing to deploy from the well deck of the USS John P. Murtha, which will retrieve the crewmembers and NASA's Orion spacecraft once they splash down off the coast of San Diego.


Members of the crew can be seen in their orange spacesuits now while at the controls of the Orion spacecraft ahead of their reentry.