Artemis II returns: Four astronauts splash down after historic lunar flyby
Artemis II returns: Four astronauts splash down after historic lunar flyby
NASA's Artemis II crew completes a 10-day lunar voyage with a Pacific splashdown off the coast of San Diego, marking the first crewed Moon return in more than five decades.
The Artemis II mission concluded with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, as a four-astronaut crew returned from a 10-day loop around the Moon, traveling 406,778 kilometers from Earth. The crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—re-entered Earth's atmosphere at high speeds before deploying parachutes for a safe ocean landing. NASA and Navy recovery teams quickly secured the Orion spacecraft and assisted the crew, who celebrated the mission's successful completion.
Artemis II is the first crewed lunar mission since the Apollo era, and it serves as a crucial test of life-support systems, navigation, and deep-space operations ahead of future Moon landings. During the mission, the crew orbited the Moon, captured images of the lunar surface and Earth rising over the horizon, and conducted experiments and system checks that will inform the next steps of NASA's Artemis program.
This milestone paves the way for a sustained human presence on the Moon and a path toward Mars, building on the Artemis program's goal to return people to the Moon and push toward human exploration deeper into the solar system. Public excitement and official praise flowed in as the mission demonstrated the readiness of the teams that will support longer journeys beyond Earth orbit.
