India, April 11 --  When the Artemis II capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean after its 10-day lunar journey, the first face the four astronauts will see will not belong to a NASA official. It will belong to a U.S. Navy diver. Lieutenant Commander Jesse Wang and his three-member medical team will be the ones to open the Orion capsule, make initial health assessments, and help Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover step back onto Earth.

Training for this moment has taken years. The four Navy medics have practiced every step of the recovery process, from entering the bobbing capsule to providing emergency care if something goes wrong. They are certified divers and specialists in decompression illnesses, mak...