Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, April 11, 2026
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Artemis II astronauts reenter Earth’s atmosphere, in critical test of spacecraft’s heat shield
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleThe NASA spacecraft carrying four astronauts hurtles back into Earth’s atmosphere following a historic trip around the Moon, beginning a critical test of their heat shield which must protect the capsule from searing temperatures.
Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen and Reid Wiseman are in the final phase of their approximately 10-day journey that included a lunar slingshot, in which they lost communications for six minutes.
Following reentry, they are expected to splash down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
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