Artemis II Crew Completes Historic Lunar Mission with Pacific Splashdown
NASA's Artemis II mission concluded with the Orion spacecraft's successful splashdown off the coast of San Diego, marking the first crewed lunar voyage in over 50 years.
NASA's Artemis II mission concluded successfully on April 10, 2026, as the Orion spacecraft, carrying four astronauts, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT. This marks the first crewed lunar voyage since 1972.
The mission's crew included NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Over the course of nearly 10 days, they traveled a total of 694,481 miles, reaching a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13.
During their journey, the crew conducted a lunar flyby, coming within 4,067 miles of the Moon's surface. They captured unprecedented images of the Moon's far side and observed a total solar eclipse from space.
The reentry process involved the Orion crew module separating from its service module, exposing the heat shield to temperatures nearing 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The spacecraft reentered Earth's atmosphere at approximately 24,661 mph, with the crew experiencing up to 3.9 Gs. Parachutes deployed at around 22,000 feet, slowing the capsule for a safe splashdown.
Recovery operations were conducted by a combined team from NASA and the U.S. military, including the USS John P. Murtha. The crew was extracted from the capsule and transported to the recovery ship for medical evaluations before returning to shore.
This mission serves as a critical test flight for future Artemis missions, including Artemis III, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2027.