'A scary moment': How Artemis II crew will splash down on Earth

The final and most difficult part of the Aretmis II voyage will take place tonight, with the crew navigating the dangers of re-entering the atmosphere before they splash down back on Earth.

After 10 days, the four crew members will return from their journey, which has seen them travel the furthest distance from Earth any human ever has before.

Their journey is part of Nasa's long-term plan to return humans to the surface of the Moon – part of its broader mission to put feet on the ground of Mars.

Returning to Earth is seen as one of the most difficult tasks of any spacecraft.

The extreme heat and turbulence generated by re-entering the atmosphere presents a significant engineering challenge and is seen as one of the most dangerous parts of the trip.

Speaking on Wednesday, pilot Victor ​Glover said he'd been thinking about the difficulty of re-entry since the day he was assigned to the mission on April 3 2023.

Here is how and when the Artemis crew will return to Earth.

Hours before the crew splash down, they will begin by doing all the final preparations required, including stowing all the equipment away and calculating any final corrections they will need to make to keep on course.

They will then don their special Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) space suits required for reentry.

The bright orange suits are designed to keep astronauts alive for up to six days if Orion loses cabin pressure, and include survival gear in case the crew has to get out of Orion after landing in the ocean before recovery teams arrive.

The service module will separate from Orion 42 minutes before splashdown – leaving only the command capsule.

With final preparations complete, the capsule will begin re-entering the atmosphere at 23,864 mph, roughly 13 minutes before it's due to hit the ocean.