SAN DIEGO — NASA’s Artemis II crew splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California at 5:07 p.m. PDT Friday, returning from the agency’s first crewed moon flyby in more than half a century and completing a nearly 10-day mission. The landing capped a record-setting voyage that pushed Orion to a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, tested critical deep-space systems and moved NASA’s Artemis campaign closer to future lunar missions, April 10, 2026.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, were recovered after a parachute-assisted return and flown by helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha for initial medical evaluations, according to NASA’s official splashdown release. In the agency’s live re-entry updates, NASA said Orion hit the upper atmosphere at about 35 times the speed of sound before a textbook Pacific landing.
Why the Artemis II splashdown matters for NASA’s lunar return
Beyond the symbolism of sending humans back around the moon for the first time since Apollo, Artemis II served as NASA’s first crewed deep-space test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft together. NASA said the crew evaluated life-support systems, manual piloting tasks and emergency procedures while also gathering science and operational data documented during the mission’s record-distance milestone and across the broader Artemis program.
“Welcome home, and congratulations on a truly historic achievement,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said after splashdown. NASA said post-flight analysis from Artemis II will now help shape the work ahead for Artemis III and the missions that follow.
A mission years in the making
The return also closed a long arc for a program that has advanced in stages. Orion first proved it could travel around the moon and back during the uncrewed Artemis I splashdown in 2022. NASA then introduced the Artemis II astronauts in a 2023 crew announcement that put a woman, a Black astronaut and a Canadian on the lunar roster. By late 2024, the agency had pushed the schedule to 2026 after heat-shield and readiness concerns, making Friday’s successful re-entry one of the mission’s most closely watched tests.
During the flight, Orion passed about 4,067 miles above the lunar surface at closest approach and later broke Apollo 13’s long-standing distance mark before reaching its maximum range from Earth. The crew also photographed the lunar surface, Earthset and a solar eclipse from Orion’s vantage point, imagery NASA has framed as both operationally useful and historically resonant.
What comes next after the Artemis II splashdown
With Artemis II complete, NASA and its partners are expected to turn to hardware inspections, flight-data review and the next major round of mission planning. With a crewed lunar flyby now complete, the agency enters its next phase with fresh flight data and a successful end-to-end test of the systems meant to carry astronauts deeper into the Artemis era.
