A U.S. Navy sailor from Mass. will meet the Artemis II crew at splashdown
A U.S. Navy sailor from Massachusetts will be among the first people to greet the Artemis II astronauts when they return to Earth on Friday.
Chief Hospital Corpsman Vlad Link is a member of the dive medical team that will open the Orion capsule, the U.S. Navy said in a media release. Link, who is from Chelsea, will help get the astronauts out of the capsule safely after splashdown and make an initial medical assessment of their condition.
Link has 18 years of experience in dive medicine.
“I have been exposed to the Navy since I was a young teenager, and I’m proud to represent both my family and hometown,” Link said in the media release. “Contributing our efforts to NASA and the Artemis II mission is something we take great pride in as part of that legacy.”
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen are set to return to Earth on Friday evening after 10 days in space. This involves a fiery plunge through the atmosphere, ending in a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.
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