After circling the moon and in the process traveling farther into space than any humans in history, Artemis II’s crew is returning to Earth. This Friday, the capsule carrying the four record-setting astronauts — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover (a Cal Poly alum), and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, concluding a 10-day voyage that marks NASA’s first crewed mission to the moon in more than 50 years. Ahead of the historic moment, the U.S. Geological Survey put out a notice that the spacecraft’s return is expected to produce sonic booms that could be felt and heard throughout Southern California, including parts of Santa Barbara County.
“During Friday’s Artemis II re-entry, we will be deploying seismic and acoustic instrumentation at sea across the Southern California Bight to record the sonic boom produced by the capsule’s re-entry,” the USGS wrote in an email shared by a user on Reddit. “Modelling indicates that the acoustic signal may be audible on land in some areas Santa Barbara County and Baja California, including the Channel Islands.”
On its Facebook, the USGS states the sonic booms are expected between 5 and 5:15 p.m. local time as the spacecraft reenters Earth’s atmosphere. Whether or not you hear or feel sonic booms, the USGS asks residents to fill out its “Did You Feel It” survey, which can be found here.
You can watch a livestream of the splashdown on NASA’s YouTube or X accounts, as well as on its website or TV app.
