By Gina Yarbrough
San Diego, CA–The San Diego Air and Space Museum will host an Artemis II Splashdown Watch Party on April 10 to celebrate the historic Artemis II mission and the return of its four-person crew to Earth.
The event coincides with the anticipated splashdown of the Orion capsule, Integrity, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Museum officials are inviting families and space enthusiasts to gather and experience the mission’s dramatic conclusion in real time.
The museum will operate during its regular hours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Guests will assemble in the Pavilion of Flight at least one hour prior to the scheduled splashdown to watch a live stream of the capsule’s final descent and the safe return of its four astronauts, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
The watch party will continue through splashdown and the start of recovery operations by the U.S. Navy.
In addition to the live broadcast, the event will feature hands-on educational activities designed for all ages. Interactive stations will explore the science of space travel and reentry, including heat shield demonstrations, parachute design challenges, stomp rockets, robotics, 3D pen engineering, and creative exercises inspired by space communications.
Visitors will also have the opportunity to view a newly unveiled 8.5-foot-tall model of the Space Launch System rocket, the vehicle designed to carry the Orion capsule and its crew around the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program.
Food and beverages will be available throughout the event at the museum’s Flight Path Grill, where guests can watch the live stream on a large LED screen in the open-air Pavilion of Flight.
The watch party is presented in partnership with NASA and the Fleet Science Center, highlighting San Diego’s longstanding ties to aerospace innovation and scientific exploration.
For more information on the San Diego Air and Space Museum’s Artemis II Splashdown Watch Party, click here.
