Artemis II Astronauts Splash Down Safely After Historic Moon Orbit Mission

Artemis II Astronauts Splash Down Safely After Historic Moon Orbit MissionThe four astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission have returned safely to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, on April 10, 2026.The crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), Christina Koch (mission specialist), and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen (mission specialist) — completed a record-breaking 10-day journey that took them farther from Earth than any humans in more than half a century.Mission HighlightsThe Orion spacecraft, nicknamed Integrity, traveled approximately 695,000 miles (1,117,000 km) during the mission. The crew performed a close lunar flyby, capturing stunning new images of the Moon’s far side and witnessing a total solar eclipse from space. They successfully tested Orion’s systems in deep space, including manual piloting maneuvers, preparing the way for future crewed lunar landings. The return was dramatic: Orion endured re-entry temperatures reaching nearly 2,760°C (about half as hot as the surface of the Sun) at speeds of roughly 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h). After a communications blackout, drogue and main parachutes deployed perfectly, slowing the capsule for a gentle splashdown at 8:07 p.m. EDT (5:07 p.m. PDT).A joint NASA and U.S. Navy recovery team quickly extracted the astronauts, who were reported to be in good health. They were transferred to the recovery ship USS John P. Murtha for initial medical checks before heading back to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.Significance of the MissionArtemis II marks humanity’s first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The mission’s success validates the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket systems for the upcoming Artemis III landing mission, currently targeted for no earlier than 2028.NASA Administrator and international partners hailed the splashdown as a triumphant step forward in the Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and eventually send astronauts to Mars.The safe return of the Artemis II crew brings renewed excitement and momentum to NASA’s ambitious lunar exploration goals.