Artemis II Crew Returns Safely After Historic Lunar Test Mission

The crew of Artemis II safely returned to Earth on April 10, 2026, concluding a 10-day mission that marked a major milestone in preparations for future human landings on the Moon.

The Orion spacecraft capsule, named Integrity, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 p.m. EDT (00:07 GMT), completing what officials described as a precise and “textbook” re-entry. The spacecraft endured extreme temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius as it re-entered Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 25,000 miles per hour. All four astronauts were reported to be in good health.

The mission successfully tested Orion’s heat shield under high-speed re-entry conditions, a critical requirement for future deep-space missions. Artemis II also set a new record for the farthest distance humans have traveled beyond the Moon.

The crew included NASA commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

Following splashdown, recovery teams retrieved the crew and transported them to the USS John P. Murtha for initial medical checks and debriefing.

NASA officials said data collected from the mission—particularly on the performance of the heat shield and onboard systems—will be analyzed in detail as the agency prepares for Artemis III, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in decades.