Support aircraft flying near Artemis II splashdown area

At Friday April 10, 2026 the Artemis II mission ended when the Orion spacecraft had the splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, completing the Artemis II crew’s return to Earth and a 694,481-mile journey.

Many aircraft were involved in obtaining data, making video’s for live coverage and retrieving the astronauts from the capsule.

The aircraft below were active:

The WB57 MARTIN 272 N926NA of NASA. It was used during the launch and splashdown to make video’s and photos.

The very special Boeing 737 NT-43A 73-1155 of the USAF using callsign NASA522. This aircraft was also operating at the time of the launch. Probably for collecting radar data. This aircraft is usually employed to evaluate the radar cross section (RCS) of stealthy aircraft by using two very large radar arrays hosted by two radomes on the nose and tail, which give the aircraft its characteristic appearance.

Cessna 208 Caravan N97826 probably owned by  L3 Communications. The aircraft had or still has L-3 Westcam  electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imaging and designating turret. This Cessna 208 was used also during the launch of the Space Launch System

A Gulfstream 5 N552HA of the United States – Missile Defense Agency High Altitude Observatory (HALO). Normally the aircraft is used as a testbed for intercept flight tests and missile data collection. This aircraft may have taken the opportunity to track Artemis in order to collect data. There are very few opportunities to observe an object reaching Earth at such high speed using specialized equipment.

Also Gulfstream 5 N553HA of the United States – Missile Defense Agency High Altitude Observatory was presented.

An US Navy UH-60 Black Hawk with serial 166524 using callsign SHWK426

An US Navy UH-60 Black Hawk with serial 167878 using callsign RCVRY11. The role of this helicopter was to recovery the astronauts from the capsule after landing in the ocean.

An US Navy UH-60 Black Hawk with serial 166366 using callsign RCVRY12. The role of this helicopter was to recovery the astronauts from the capsule after landing in the ocean.

An US Navy UH-60 Black Hawk with serial 167819 using callsign IMGRY21. Most likely used to take videos.
An US Navy UH-60 Black Hawk with serial 166315 using callsign IMGRY22. Most likely used to take videos.