Artemis II Landing Watch Party

🚀 Artemis II Splashdown Watch Party — Friday, April 10

NASA's Orion capsule is coming home this Friday, splashing down about 50 miles off the San Diego coast at 5:07 PM PDT. This is the first crewed moon mission since 1972, and it's landing in our backyard. Our group should be there to see it.

📍 Mt. Soledad, top parking lot
🕓 Meet at 4:00 PM (splashdown at 5:07 PM)

Please note: this is a viewing meetup, not a flying session. Mt. Soledad is both a City of San Diego park and a National Veterans Memorial, so drones are not permitted there without a special permit. On top of that, the splashdown is roughly 50 miles offshore — well beyond the legal line-of-sight limit for any drone. Please leave your aircraft at home for this one.

A quick reality check on what to expect: the splashdown happens in daylight and far offshore, so naked-eye views will be limited. We're really gathering for the experience and the community, not for dramatic footage. If we're lucky, we might catch a reentry streak in the sky.

What to bring:
• Camp chair
• Layers (it gets breezy at the top)
• Binoculars, if you have them
• A phone or tablet to stream NASA's live feed
• Snacks and bev for yourself

I'll have the NASA stream running so we can all watch together. Carpooling is encouraged. Parking fills up quickly on Friday afternoons.

Weather note: NASA is watching an incoming storm system, so timing could shift. I'll post an update Thursday night if anything changes.