San Diego Navy warship to recover Artemis II astronauts on Friday

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KESQ) - The San Diego-based USS John P. Murtha will be deployed to recover the Artemis II astronauts after their spacecraft splashes down off the coast of San Diego later this week, the Navy announced today.   

Sailors assigned to the amphibious transport dock ship have been undergoing training in preparation for recovering the Artemis II crew, whose space capsule is set to return just after 5 p.m. Friday.

In a statement, the Navy said the ship has "unique advantages'' that will assist NASA in the Orion space capsule's recovery and collection of "critical data to help ensure it's ready to recover the astronauts and capsule during future Artemis missions.''

The ship's commanding officer, Capt. Erik Kenny, said in a statement that the ship's mission this week was "a fitting tribute" to its namesake, Pennsylvania Congressman John P. Murtha.

"We are honored to carry on his legacy by supporting NASA and the Artemis II mission,'' Kenny said.  

A U.S. Navy helicopter squadron based out of Naval Air Station North Island will assist in tracking the capsule while it travels through Earth's atmosphere, then recover the four astronauts and bring them to the ship for assessment, the Navy said.

Navy divers will also recover and transport the Orion space capsule from the water to the ship's deck.

The mission reached a historic milestone Monday as astronauts flying around the far side of the moon traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history. They surpassed the previous distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 at 248,655 miles during a lunar flyby Monday morning, according to NASA.