Artemis II crew splashes down safely off San Diego after moon mission
At 5:07 p.m. Pacific Time, four Artemis II astronauts touched down off the coast of San Diego on Friday evening after a 10-day mission that marked the first manned lunar mission in more than 50 years.
The crew launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 1 and flew further from Earth than any previous mission, traveling around the moon 252,000 miles from Earth.
NASA administrator Jared Isaacman shared a massage for those helping astronauts recover after landing on the USS John P. Murtha before the splashdown.
““I have no doubt that you will all do it flawlessly, completing an absolutely historic mission that will enable these astronauts to travel further into space than any human has ever gone before,” he said.
ARTEMIS II NEARS THE END OF HISTORIC MISSION WITH A JUMP UP OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is welcomed by Capt. Erik Kenny, commander of the USS John P. Murtha, as NASA and U.S. military teams prepare for the Artemis II crew’s return to Earth in the Pacific Ocean off California on April 10, 2026. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
“We have entered the lunar environment for the first time in more than half a century,” he added. “We’re back to the business of sending astronauts back to the Moon.”
NASA plans to stay and build a moon base after Artemis III launches in 2028 for the first moon landing in decades, Isaacman added.
ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS SHOW THE APOLLO 18 FLAG FROM SPACE
After assisting the Orion crew module, the four astronauts: Commander Reid Weisman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen were taken to USS John P. Murtha for post-mission medical evaluation.
U.S. Navy divers prepare to depart from USS John P. Murtha to rescue the crew of Artemis II and NASA’s Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on April 10, 2026. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)
The Orion spacecraft re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at about 25,000 mph on Friday and slowed to about 20 mph using an array of 11 parachutes before landing in the ocean about 60 miles off the coast at 5:07 p.m. local time.
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Earth sets over the Moon’s curved edge at 6:41 PM EDT on April 6, 2026, in this image taken by the Artemis II crew during their journey around the far side of the Moon. (NASA)
During reentry, the temperature outside the spacecraft rose to as high as 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Astronauts last went to the moon for the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972, three years after humans first set foot on the moon with the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
