Artimis II Timeline
Day 1, Wednesday, 4/1/2026, Launch
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 5:35 PM | 6:35 PM | Launch to low earth orbit. |
| 5:37 PM | 6:37 PM | Jettison Solid Rocket Boosters, then the Fairings. |
| 5:43 PM | 6:43 PM | Main Engine Cut Off (MECO). |
| 5:53 PM | 6:53 PM | Perigee Raise Maneuver. |
| 7:05 PM | 8:05 PM | Second Stage Ignites to send Orion into high elliptical orbit. |
Day 2, Thursday, 4/2/2026, TLI
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 1:00 AM | 2:00 AM | Orion separation from Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS). |
| 2:00 AM | 3:00 AM | Glover performs docking maneuver with the second stage. |
| 4:00 AM | 5:00 AM | Upper Stage separation burn to stay clear of the ICPS. |
| 8:15 AM | 9:15 AM | Upper Stage burn to raise the orbit. |
| 6:50 PM | 7:50 PM | Trans-Lunar Injection (TLI} burn to leave Earth orbit. |
Day 3, Friday, 4/3/2026
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| ~ | ~ | Trajectory correction canceled. |
| ~ | ~ | External spacecraft survey. |
| ~ | ~ | Earth imaging. |
| ~ | ~ | CPR demonstration. |
| ~ | ~ | Media call with ABC News. |
Day 4, Saturday, 4/4/2026
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| ~ | ~ | Live media event from space. |
| ~ | ~ | Moon imaging. |
Day 5, Sunday, 4/5/2026, Spacesuit Testing
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| ~ | ~ | Orion Crew Survival System spacesuite testing. |
| ~ | ~ | Easter Greetings from Space. |
| ~ | ~ | Moon imaging & observations. |
| 10:03 PM | 11:03 PM | Course correction burn, 17.5 seconds. |
| 11:41 PM | ~ | Enter moon’s gravitational influence. |
Day 6, Monday, 4/6/2026, Lunar Flyby
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| ~ | ~ | Orientale Basin crater is visible |
| ~ | ~ | Hertzsprung Basin crater is visible |
| ~ | ~ | Reid Wiseman names a crater 'Carroll' in honor of his wife who died 5 years ago to cancer. |
| ~ | ~ | 175 GB of images are taken with only 20 GB transmitted back to Earth, which took 20 minutes via laser beam transmission. |
| ~ | ~ | Ship to Ship call from Orian to the ISS. |
| ~ | 12:41 AM | Orion enters the Moon’s sphere of influence |
| 12:56 PM | 1:56 PM | Artimis II passes Apollo 13 distance record. |
| 5:44 PM | 6:44 PM | Orion loses communication from Earth for about 40 minutes |
| 5:45 PM | 6:45 PM | Earthset |
| 6:02 PM | 7:02 PM | Orion reaches the closest appoach to the Moon, 4,070 miles. |
| 6:07 PM | 7:07 PM | Orion is the farthest from earth, a distance of 248,655 miles, a record set previously in 1970 by Apollo 13. |
| 6:25 PM | 7:25 PM | Earthrise & reaquire communication from Earth. |
| 7:35 PM | 8:35 PM | Solar eclipse begins. |
| 8:20 PM | 9:20 PM | Flyby is Over. |
| 8:32 PM | 9:32 PM | Solar eclips ends. |
Day 7, Tuesday, 4/7/2026, Leave the Moon
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 2:30 AM | 3:30 AM | Guidance, Navigation & Control (GNC) calibration. |
| 5:00 AM | 6:00 AM | EVA rehearsal inside the cabin to don and off their suits. |
| 7:03 AM | 8:03 AM | Course correction burn which lasts 15 seconds and provides an acceleration of 0.5 m/s. |
| 10:30 AM | 11:30 AM | Radiation dosimetry testing. |
| 10:35 AM | 11:35 AM | Live Broadcast to Earth. |
| 12:25 PM | 1:25 PM | Orion leaves the Moon's gravitational influence at 41,075 miles from the Moon. |
| 4:00 PM | 5:00 PM | Sicence experiments. |
Day 8, Wednesday, 4/8/2026, Travel Back
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 4:35 AM | 5:35 AM | Midcourse Correction Burn which lasted 15 seconds. |
| 8:45 PM | 9:45 PM | Media Conference. |
| ~ | ~ | The crew practiced recovery operations and splashdown procedures. |
| ~ | ~ | The crew is starting to stow away equipment. |
Day 9, Thursday, 4/9/2026, Preparations
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 11:45 AM | 12:45 PM | NASA coverage of lunar flyby began. |
| 12:45 PM | 1:45 PM | Crew expected to surpass Apollo 13's record distance from Earth. |
| 1:29 PM | 2:29 PM | Audio-only conversation with astronauts aboard the International Space Station. |
| 3:00 PM | 4:00 PM | Mission status briefing held to update on mission progress. |
| 2:30 PM | 3:30 PM | Daily press conferences to discuss mission updates. |
| 6:50 PM | 7:50 PM | Press Conference. |
Day 10, Friday, 4/10/2026, Re-entry & Splashdown
| CST | EST | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 5:05 AM | 6:05 AM | Final Correction Burn to ensure a re-entry angle of -0.4 degrees. |
| 5:35 PM | 6:35 PM | The crew suits up for re-entry in their Orion Crew Survival Systems (OSS). |
| 6:33 PM | 7:33 PM | The European Service Module separates from the Crew Module. |
| 6:40 PM | 7:40 PM | The Crew Module rotates 180 degrees to expose the heat shield for re-entry. |
| 6:53 PM | 7:53 PM | The Crew Module starts re-entry traveling about 25,000 mph at 75 miles above the Earth. The heat shield increases in temperature to 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius). |
| 6:53 PM | 7:53 PM | Plasma creates a communication blackout. |
| 7:01 PM | 8:01 PM | Skip re-entry to slow down the Crew Module. |
| 7:03 PM | 8:03 PM | Two drogue parachutes deploy to slow the descent velocity to about 300 mph. |
| 7:04 PM | 8:04 PM | Three pilot parachutes deploy to pull three main parachutes at 10,000 feet slowing the Crew Module to 190 mph. |
| 7:07 PM | 8:07 PM | Splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, CA. It is estimated that the capsule traveled a total of 694,481 miles. |
| 9:11 PM | 10:11 PM | The USS John P Murtha with a team of Navy Seals secure the Orion Capsule. |