NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have safely returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern California and closing out the first crewed journey around the Moon in more than half a century.
The mission marks NASA’s first crewed Artemis flight and the first time people have traveled beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Aboard the Orion spacecraft were Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on April 1, the four-person crew spent around ten days testing the spacecraft and its systems on a lunar flyby designed to help pave the way for future missions.
During the mission, Artemis II set a new distance record for human spaceflight, with NASA saying the crew surpassed the mark set by Apollo 13.
The astronauts also conducted a high-profile flyby of the Moon’s far side and captured dramatic images of the Moon and Earth during the return leg.
The final descent was among the most critical phases of the flight. Orion hit Earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speed, endured extreme heating during reentry, then slowed under parachutes before splashing down.
NASA and US Navy recovery teams were positioned to retrieve the spacecraft and crew after landing.
Artemis II did not land on the Moon, but NASA described it as a crucial test of the systems needed to send astronauts farther into deep space and eventually back to the Moon.
Like most test flights, Artemis II was not entirely trouble-free. Early in the mission, the crew and flight controllers had to troubleshoot Orion’s toilet after a fault light appeared, and later dealt with additional hygiene-system issues, including a urine-venting problem and an odd burning smell near the toilet bay. NASA said the glitches were manageable and did not threaten the mission.
The mission’s results are expected to shape the next steps in the Artemis campaign, including future crewed lunar operations.