India, April 11 --  Artemis II's 10-day journey around the moon comes down to 34 minutes. That is all the time between Orion's crew module separating from its service module and the capsule splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. In that half hour, the heat shield must repel temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit-half as hot as the surface of the sun-while the astronauts endure nearly four times their body weight in G-forces.

33 p.m. EDT. Four minutes later, Orion will make its final burn to refine its trajectory, reducing stress on the heat shield. Then the real work begins.

Artemis 2 Splashdown LIVE: What Happens During Reentry?

At 7:53 p.m., Orion will reach 400,000 feet above Earth, traveling at almost 35 times the speed o...