The four-person Artemis II crew is at Kennedy Space Center preparing for a lunar round trip as early as next week. The nine-day test flight will cover nearly half a million miles, loop behind the moon and return to Earth — the first crewed lunar mission since 1972. Because this is a test, NASA and its partners are preparing for every contingency, including ocean recoveries.
Detachment 3, a global U.S. Air Force rescue unit that has coordinated contingency planning and astronaut rescues for NASA since 1959, will be on standby for Artemis II. The unit trains intensively for scenarios it hopes never occur. As Lt. Colonel Kevin Pieper, who oversees the detachment, put it: ‘We absolutely never want it to happen.’ He stresses that rehearsing many possible outcomes is essential because so many variables exist during a crewed launch.
CBS Saturday Morning observed a mid-launch abort recovery simulation. In the drill, a C-17 hauled roughly 15,000 pounds of rescue gear to a planned splashdown area and airdropped equipment such as jet skis, inflatable boats, medical supplies and other mission-critical items. Pararescue jumpers, known as PJs, parachuted into the water, collected the gear, approached the capsule, and worked to transfer the crew into a life raft loaded with food, water, survival items and medical equipment.
Rescue jumper Jason Dykstra explained teams must be ready for unknowns inside the capsule and for extended time at sea. ‘We have enough supplies to sustain those astronauts, medically speaking, until help arrives,’ he said. Detachment 3 can support astronauts in a life raft for roughly 72 to 96 hours if necessary.
Multiple rescue teams will be on alert when Artemis II launches. Pieper called the mission a ‘huge responsibility’ and said everyone understands the importance of ensuring the crew returns home safely if an emergency occurs.