Episode•January 23, 2026•42 min
Artemis II: Recovery
Artemis II landing and recovery director Lili Villarreal discusses how NASA and its partners recover the Orion spacecraft and its four astronauts after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. HWHAP 408.
Key Takeaways
- 1
Recovery, Rescue, and Retrieval are distinct operational phases
Recovery involves nominal splashdown and crew egress.
Rescue is for off-nominal landings or launch aborts.
Retrieval focuses on the post-crew recovery of the Orion capsule.
- 2
Orion recovery differs significantly from ISS mission recovery
Orion lands far from the mainland, requiring a self-contained 'hospital' on the recovery vessel.
Unlike ISS missions, Orion cannot loiter in orbit to wait for perfect weather, necessitating robust recovery capabilities in higher sea states.
The process involves a military ship with a well deck, rather than helicopter or crane retrieval.
- 3
Integration and contingency planning are the pillars of mission success
The team utilizes 'Recovery Decision Criteria' (RDCs) to manage potential failures.
Constant simulation and 'just-in-time' training with military partners ensure the team can pivot when unexpected issues arise.
Safety is paramount, with specialized teams (Sasquatch) calculating debris fields to keep recovery forces safe.
Intro
- Artemis II Landing and Recovery Director Lili Villarreal joins the podcast to discuss the complex, multi-agency effort required to safely recover the Orion spacecraft and its crew from the Pacific Ocean.
- Lili Villarreal is the Artemis II Landing and Recovery Director within the Exploration Ground Systems Team at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, with a career spanning over two decades in aerospace engineering and operations.
– Career Path to Recovery Director
- Lili Villarreal shares her journey from working on Boeing aircraft environmental systems to supporting the International Space Station and eventually transitioning to the Artemis program.
I just kept applying for any job that was open in that contract. I think I bugged them so much... that's how my career at NASA really started.
– Evolution of Recovery Operations
- The current recovery process draws heavily on Apollo-era lessons while adapting to the larger, heavier Orion capsule.
- Floating the capsule into a military ship's well deck instead of helicopter/crane lifting.
- Using a single versatile military vessel rather than a large fleet of ships.
- Modernized crew egress procedures in open water.
– The Recovery Timeline
- Villarreal walks through the 30-day preparation process, the movement of the ship to the landing site, and the high-stakes execution on splashdown day.
The goal is to be at that landing site about 24 hours before splashdown with everybody ready to go.
– Contingency Planning and Safety
- The team maintains a list of 38 pre-planned contingency events (RDCs) and relies on rigorous simulation to prepare for any scenario.
I think every day in a URT, the word of the day is pivot. We have had something happen where we have to figure out how to get out of a situation that we didn't expect.
Resources
Topics
Artemis IINASAOrion SpacecraftSpaceflight RecoveryAerospace EngineeringMission OperationsContingency Planning