NASA’s Artemis II mission successfully concluded with the safe splashdown of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, marking humanity’s first crewed journey around the Moon in more than 50 years.
The capsule carrying four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at speeds exceeding 24,000 mph before landing within the designated recovery zone late on April 10. All crew members were reported in good condition following recovery by U.S. Navy teams.
The roughly 10-day mission traveled more than 690,000 miles and reached a record distance of about 252,756 miles from Earth, surpassing previous human spaceflight limits.
Artemis II did not land on the Moon but tested critical systems, including life support and navigation, paving the way for future missions. NASA aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface as early as 2027–2028 under the Artemis program.
