{"id":260796,"date":"2026-04-10T08:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T08:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/260796\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T08:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T08:12:21","slug":"join-a-free-watch-party-celebrating-artemis-iis-pacific-ocean-splashdown-nbc-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/260796\/","title":{"rendered":"Join a free watch party celebrating Artemis II\u2019s Pacific Ocean splashdown \u2013 NBC Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For space fans in Southern California, the return of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.columbiaspacescience.org\/calendar\/2026\/4\/10\/landing-watch-party\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Artemis II<\/a> has taken on a lovely local dimension: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbclosangeles.com\/news\/local\/nasa-artemis-splashdown\/3873634\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The spacecraft<\/a>, which launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbclosangeles.com\/news\/local\/nasa-artemis-splashdown\/3873634\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">expected to splashdown<\/a> in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego just a bit after 5 p.m. on Friday, April 10.<\/p>\n<p>True, that isn&#8217;t &#8220;local&#8221; to Los Angeles in the strictest sense of the word, but with the world watching the moon-major mission, the idea that the Orion spacecraft will make a splash just off the coast of California has a thrilling sound.<\/p>\n<p>While a few sky-watching, feed-watching, <a href=\"https:\/\/sandiegoairandspace.org\/calendar\/event\/artemis-ii-splashdown-family-pj-night-watch-party\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">splashdown-celebratory events<\/a> are brewing in San Diego, the closest city to the expected splashdown spot, you can find other Artemis II aficionados in Los Angeles at the Columbia Memorial Space Center in Downey.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.columbiaspacescience.org\/calendar\/2026\/4\/10\/landing-watch-party\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Admission to the museum<\/a> is free April 10, and the splashdown will be broadcast on a large screen, with a science educator nearby to explain everything that is taking place. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DW1vhTVFKxs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The splashdown<\/a> is expected to occur just after 5 p.m. California time but do arrive by 4 p.m. when the event begins.<\/p>\n<p>An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DW1vhTVFKxs\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Astronomy Night&#8221;<\/a> event will happen soon after the splashdown, with activities dotting the museum from 7 to 9 o&#8217;clock.<\/p>\n<p>If the next day, April 11, still finds you in the space-obsessed zone, a zone where so many earthlings are now existing, look to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbclosangeles.com\/the-scene\/celebrate-first-human-spaceflight-free-griffith-observatory-event\/3871863\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Griffith Observatory<\/a> for an afternoon of free events and diversions honoring the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbclosangeles.com\/the-scene\/celebrate-first-human-spaceflight-free-griffith-observatory-event\/3871863\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;first human spaceflight&#8221;<\/a> and the legacy of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. <\/p>\n<p>A ticketed evening happening will follow, with special guests in attendance.<\/p>\n<p>Updated April 9<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For space fans in Southern California, the return of Artemis II has taken on a lovely local dimension:&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[46403,17435,48,52,51,47,50,49,2311],"class_list":["post-260796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-astronomy","tag-downey","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-museums"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}