The weather will be reasonably good at 5:07 p.m. Friday when the Artemis II astronauts splash down in the ocean off San Diego in their Orion space capsule, the National Weather Service says.
An array of 11 parachutes will slow the capsule and allow it safely land roughly 50 to 60 miles offshore.
The skies will be partly cloudy and dry, rather than dark and a bit rainy, which seemed likely only a day ago. The air temperature will be 69 degrees. The ocean temperature will be 64 degrees. The wind will blow about 10 knots out of the west. And the open ocean seas will be in the 3-to-4 foot range.
On some clear days, it is possible to see the portion of San Clemente Island that is roughly 60 miles from San Diego. But those conditions won’t exist on Friday night.
The four astronauts will be guided out of their capsule by divers from the San Diego-based warship USS John P. Murtha, the Navy says. Once they’re on the ship, the crew will be helicoptered to Naval Air Station North Island, then transferred to a jet so they can fly to Houston.