When the Artemis II capsule touches down in the Pacific Ocean Friday night ET, the first human faces the crew is expected to see will belong to Navy sailors in the water nearby. The mission turns on a quiet, technical moment: the opening of the capsule, the first medical checks, and the transfer of the astronauts toward uss john p murtha for further evaluations.
Who meets the astronauts first after splashdown?
The first person set to open the capsule and begin medical assessments is Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Laddy Aldridge, who serves with Explosive Ordnance Disposal Expeditionary Support Unit 1. He will be part of a four-person Navy dive medical team that greets the astronauts and their Orion capsule after the splashdown.
The team includes Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Wang, Chief Hospital Corpsman Vlad Link and Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Steve Kapala. Their task is direct and tightly defined: enter the capsule, assess the crew, provide triage care if needed, and help the astronauts move safely onto an inflatable raft set up by Navy divers.
Aldridge described the assignment as the result of years of preparation. “This effort is the culmination of both our training to bring world class care to the Artemis II crew and countless dedicated years of Navy diving and Navy medicine, ” he said.
Why does the mission matter beyond the splashdown?
On the surface, the scene is simple: four astronauts return from a 10-day journey around the moon, and a Navy team meets them in the water. The wider meaning comes in the combination of spaceflight and recovery medicine. The sailors are not there for ceremony. They are there because the first minutes after splashdown matter, when the crew transitions from spacecraft conditions to human care.
That is where the keyword uss john p murtha enters the story again. Once the astronauts are out of the capsule, first-contact medical providers will arrange for them to be airlifted by Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 back to the amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha for more evaluations.
Navy dive medical personnel often work in expeditionary warfare communities and are certified divers with specialized training in undersea medical issues, including decompression illnesses. The work is precise, but it also carries a human burden: the astronauts are returning from a historic mission, and the team’s job is to make sure that return begins safely.
Who are the sailors behind the recovery effort?
Wang will lead the team. He is a board-certified emergency medicine doctor assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 1. He joined the Navy in 2021 and became an undersea medical officer in 2024. “As a proud member of the undersea medical community, I am particularly humbled to play a part in this mission, ” Wang said. “It is the honor of a lifetime to stand here today, ready to provide the absolute best care to the Artemis II crew. ”
Link, part of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 1, brings 18 years of dive medicine experience. He said the mission is already a highlight of his career. “I have been exposed to the Navy since I was a young teenager, and I’m proud to represent both my family and hometown, ” he said. “Contributing our efforts to NASA and the Artemis II mission is something we take great pride in as part of that legacy. ”
Kapala, assigned to EODMU-11, has worked in dive medicine since 2018. He called the recovery effort a unified one. “I grew up reading sci-fi novels and watching space movies, never thinking that I would play a part in a recovery mission like this, ” he said. “It is surreal to play a part in safely recovering the astronauts from the capsule. ”
For this team, the first hello is also the first medical responsibility. And for the astronauts, the path from moon voyage to shipboard care runs through the steady hands of sailors waiting beside the water, with uss john p murtha ready to receive them.
