NASA schedules live coverage as the Artemis II Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft roll from Kennedy Space Center’s assembly building to Launch Pad 39B.

The spacecraft descended on parachutes, splashing down in calm Pacific waters near San Diego at 3:41 a.m. Eastern time (12:41 a.m. Pacific time). The capsule was hoisted out of the sea onto the deck of a SpaceX recovery ship and its hatch opened after 4 a.m., with the first of the returning astronauts exiting the capsule just before 4:30 a.m.

The departure of the Crew-11 mission has effectively left the Expedition 74 team a little thin on personnel, with only cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, Sergey Mikaev, and NASA's Chris Williams onboard the orbital outpost.

After more than five months in space, four astronauts on a mission known as Crew-11 are about to cut their mission short and return to Earth.

New NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said ending the mission a little early is in the best interest of Crew-11. The astronauts — Commander Zena Cardman, pilot Mike Fincke, Japan’s Kimya Yui, and Russia’s Oleg Platonov — will ride SpaceX 's Dragon Endeavour capsule back to Earth within days.