First Responders of the Pacific: Meet the U.S. Navy Divers Who Welcomed the Artemis II Crew Back to Earth

SAN DIEGO, CA — On April 10, 2026, the silence of the Pacific Ocean was shattered by a double sonic boom, signaling the return of humanity’s first lunar voyagers in over fifty years. As the Orion spacecraft, christened Integrity, deployed its parachutes and bobbed into the waves off the coast of San Diego, a specialized team of U.S. Navy divers was already closing in.

While the world watched the splashdown of Artemis II, these divers were the first humans to lock eyes with Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. For the crew of the USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), this wasn't just a recovery mission; it was the culmination of years of rigorous, high-stakes training.

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The "First Contact" Team

The recovery operation was spearheaded by Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group (EODGRU) 1. Within this elite group, a specific four-man dive medical team was tasked with the "First Contact" role—being the very first to open the hatch and ensure the astronauts were safe after their grueling 10-day mission around the moon.

Lt. Cmdr. Jesse Wang (Team Lead)

A board-certified emergency medicine physician from Laguna Beach, California, Wang served as the lead for the medical recovery. Having joined the Navy in 2021 and designated as an undersea medical officer in 2024, Wang described the mission as "the honor of a lifetime." His role was to oversee the immediate triage and ensure the crew's physiological transition from microgravity back to Earth's 1g environment was handled with precision.

Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Laddy Aldridge

A third-generation service member from Cushing, Oklahoma, Aldridge was the first person to actually touch the capsule and make contact with the crew. As a Senior Dive Independent Duty Corpsman, his expertise was critical in performing the initial medical assessments inside the cramped, post-splashdown environment of the Orion.

Chief Hospital Corpsman Vlad Link

Hailing from Chelsea, Massachusetts, Link brought 18 years of dive medicine experience to the team. His seasoned background in Navy diving provided a steady hand during the "off-nominal" scenarios the team had practiced for years.

Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Steve Kapala

From Alpena, Michigan, Kapala has been practicing dive medicine since 2018. Like his teammates, he was assigned to provide one-on-one assistance to a specific astronaut, helping them navigate the physical disorientation that often follows a high-speed reentry and splashdown.

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Years of Training for a 10-Minute Window

The flawless execution on April 10 was no accident. The divers and medical personnel spent years preparing at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston and participating in a series of Underway Recovery Tests (URT).

The most recent, URT-11, saw the team practicing aboard the USS San Diego, simulating every possible variable—from calm seas to night-time extractions and medical emergencies.

"The ocean always holds a vote," said Chief Navy Diver August Dhayer, who managed the 10-person team making first contact. "Despite initially calm seas, we encountered unexpected currents during the tow. Precise coordination was the only thing that kept us on schedule."

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The Recovery Process: Step-by-Step

Once the Orion hit the water, the operation moved with clockwork efficiency:

1. Hazmat Sweep: Divers first conducted a hazardous material detection sweep to ensure no toxic propellants (like hydrazine) had leaked from the capsule's exterior.

2. The "Front Porch": Divers inflated a specialized life raft, colloquially known as the "front porch," around the capsule to provide a stable platform for the astronauts to exit.

3. Capsule Ingress: Aldridge and the medical team opened the hatch, entering the capsule to perform immediate health checks.

4. Extraction: The astronauts were assisted onto the raft and then hoisted via MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters from the "Wildcards" of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 23 to the flight deck of the John P. Murtha.

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A Unified Success

For the divers, the mission was a bridge between the depths of the ocean and the heights of space. Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Brian Romero, a search and rescue medical technician (SMT) on the team, noted that the astronauts looked surprisingly well. "I was expecting them to be feeling sick, but they all looked great," Romero said. "It was amazing to see how grateful and humble they were after making history."

The successful recovery of Artemis II serves as the blueprint for Artemis III, which aims to land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface. As NASA looks toward Mars, the U.S. Navy remains the essential "welcome home" committee for the brave few who venture into the deep black of space.