SAN DIEGO, Calif. (FOX 5\/KUSI) \u2014 New details are emerging as a San Diego\u2013based Navy ship and elite crew gear up to recover the Artemis II astronauts after their historic lunar mission.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the Orion capsule will splash down off our coast \u2014 in the very waters where so many local service members work to make the recovery possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be smart. You have to be able to take a step back and look at what\u2019s dangerous and to do things that are absolutely risky, and absolutely if you make a mistake, it\u2019s going to be detrimental to handle that with calm and precision,\u201d said Thomas McConnell, a retired U.S. Navy diver.<\/p>\n
San Diego-based Navy ship, divers and helicopters to recover Artemis II crew <\/a><\/p>\n McConnell knows what it takes to handle high-priority missions, including spacecraft recovery. It\u2019s exactly what some of his active-duty friends have been training for.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery single rig. Every single dive. Every single scenario for about a 9-month period in dive school,\u201d said McConnell.<\/p>\n Part of more intensive joint practice drills between NASA and the DOD off the San Diego Coast since February 2024.<\/p>\n The goal is to make sure the four-person Artemis II crew is recovered quickly, safely, and with no surprises.<\/p>\n Seahawk helicopters will track the Orion capsule as it travels through Earth\u2019s atmosphere before it splashes down around 5:07 pm Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cHow bad are the seas? Is it going to be dangerous to board? Is it going to be dangerous for the occupants inside the capsule to come out? So that\u2019s something that you absolutely assess,\u201d said McConnell.<\/p>\n NASA releases photos of far side of the moon taken from Artemis II <\/a><\/p>\n The San Diego-based USS John P. Murtha is in motion.<\/p>\n The U.S. Navy says the ship has \u201cunique advantage, including a well deck, helicopter pad, onboard medical facilities, and communication capabilities needed to support the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n Sailors on the ship, along with helicopters and small boats, will be staged and ready to bring the astronauts and capsule to dry land.<\/p>\n \u201cThey could be in shock, who knows what could be happening between reentry and once they splashdown, so it\u2019s a great group effort between the U.S. Navy and NASA to get those astronauts out, handle them with care, and get them to a higher custody of medical care so they can be assessed better,\u201d said McConnell.<\/p>\n All eyes will be on the spacecraft\u2019s re-entry, and the San Diego Air and Space Museum<\/a> will host a watch party.<\/p>\n \u201cThank goodness it has been a flawless mission. Still a long way to go, but the heavy lifting has been done so far. They\u2019ve been testing, working every day,\u201d said Mark Larson, board chairman at the San Diego Air and Space Museum.<\/p>\n An exciting time for Larson and his team as they get ready to honor another historic milestone in space exploration.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll have NASA experts there and people who know this stuff and have lived it and a chance to see the real hardware. See, some of the things we have in the museum with Apollo 9, like the box that they put the moon rocks in on Apollo 11,\u201d said Larson.<\/p>\n The museum is extending its hours on Friday until 7 p.m. for\u00a0the watch party<\/a>, with half-price tickets if you show up at 4 p.m., along with other family-friendly activities.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n