Comin’ in hot @NASA and @USNavy teams used special cameras to track the Orion spacecraft as it descended to Earth after its 25.5-day journey to the Moon and back for the #Artemis I flight test. The air-based teams alerted personnel on recovery boats of the spacecraft’s location, allowing the USS Portland to move in for a pickup. The spacecraft hit our atmosphere at nearly 25,000 mph (40,233 kph) and reached outside temperatures around 5,000º F (2,760 Cº) before slowing to around 300 mph (480 kph) as its parachutes opened and gently landed in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11 at 12:40 p.m. EST (1740 UTC). The uncrewed first splashdown of the Orion spacecraft was a significant milestone for the #Artemis missions and will help provide invaluable data for future crewed missions. Credit: NASA #NASA #Moon #Space #Navy #Orion #Splashdown