NASA says that people along the coast of San Diego County might hear a sonic boom Friday afternoon when the Orion capsule carrying the Artemis II crew re-enters the atmosphere, wrapping up its historic trip around the moon.
The capsule is expected to re-enter at 4:54 p.m. when it is about 400,000 feet above Earth’s surface, and will parachute into the ocean 50 to 60 miles west of San Diego at 5:07 p.m. The boom could be loud enough to shake windows in some areas.
Skies will be partly cloudy, making it unlikely that people will catch a glimpse of the capsule and its 11 parachutes.
The four astronauts will be guided out of the capsule by a recovery team from the USS John P. Murtha, which will be a short distance away, preparing to transport the crew by helicopter to Naval Air Station North Island. The crew will then be flown to Houston by jet.