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The team behind Nasa's Artemis II mission have said they will be "anxious" as the Orion spacecraft returns to Earth in a "fireball". Nasa associate administrator Amit Kshatriya said he had "high confidence" the module would safely splash down in the Pacific Ocean - set for just after midnight tonight. But he admitted it was "impossible to say" he didn't still have "irrational fears". "I think there's no question that I'll be anxious, but I'll be with the families," Mr Kshatriya said. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say The crew of four, comprising Nasa's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, were seen clearing out the cabin and packing equipment away in preparation for the splashdown. At 12.33am, just 76 miles away from Earth, the service module of the craft will detach from the crew capsule. The Artemis II crew will then reach hypersonic speeds of up to 25,000 miles per hour as the capsule re-enters Earth's atmosphere. The speed of the descent makes gas and air particles compress, creating a layer of superheated gas around the capsule which cuts off communication between the astronauts and mission control, scheduled for 12.53am. The crew are protected from heat of up to 2,760C by a three-inch-thick shield. Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman previously said this phase of the mission "keeps me up at night" and admitted there was "no plan B" . The time between re-entering Earth's atmosphere and landing in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego is 13 minutes. After the initial period of intense heat, two parachutes will slow Orion to about 300 miles per hour at 1.03am, followed by further parachutes a minute later, which will eventually bring it down to 17 miles per hour. ARTEMIS II - READ MORE: ‘There is no plan B!’ Nasa issues chilling warning as Artemis II enters perilous phase of mission Nasa issues two major updates on Artemis II crew's fate Artemis II crew in tears after breaking Apollo 13 record by travelling 248,655 miles from Earth Flight director Jeff Radigan said the splashdown was "13 minutes of things that have to go right". He then listed a "whole checklist" of things that must work for a successful return to Earth. He added: "So it's not so much 13 minutes, it's more, in my head, about an hour and a half of things that have to go right, and that's the way I think of them." During the first unmanned Artemis I mission, the Orion spacecraft had a problem with its heat shield, which cracked upon re-entry. The Orion spacecraft lost chunks of materials in more than 100 locations, as gas that was trapped inside the outer material of the heat shield was not able to properly vent and dissipate. Based on the findings of the original uncrewed test mission, Artemis II has adjusted to a steeper re-entry trajectory, which should reduce the amount of time the Orion is exposed to high temperatures. Mr Kshatriya said: "We have high confidence in the system and the heat shield and the parachutes and the recovery systems we put together. The engineering supports it. "The Artemis I flight data supports it. All of our ground test supports it, our analysis supports it." Yesterday, pilot Victor Glover reflected on his team's journey and admitted Artemis II's return to Earth was what he was most looking forward to. He said: "I'll be honest and say I've actually been thinking about entry since April 3, 2023, when we got assigned to this mission. And one of the first press conferences we were asked, 'what are we looking forward to?', and I said splashdown." "I haven't even begun to process what we've been through. We've still got two more days, and riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well," he added. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
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