The Artemis II astronauts successfully concluded their 10-day journey around the moon, splashing down aboard their Orion capsule off the coast of San Diego on April 10. This successful landing marks the end of a test flight intended for a future mission that aims to bring humanity back to the lunar surface.
The Orion crew module separated from the service module at 7:33 PM. While the service module was designed to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, the crew capsule was built specifically for the safe return of the astronauts. Upon reaching the planet’s upper atmosphere by 7:53 PM, Orion experienced a six-minute communication blackout due to the capsule heating during its guided descent.
During the descent, the capsule’s safety systems activated, beginning with the deployment of 11 parachutes. The drogue parachutes were initially deployed at 23,400 feet to stabilize and slow the capsule. When Orion reached an altitude of 5,400 feet above ground, the drogue parachutes were cut away, allowing the three main parachutes to deploy. This action reduced the capsule’s velocity to 200 feet per second, facilitating a safe splashdown.
NASA engineers conducted various tests while the capsule was submerged in the water before the recovery team approached via inflatable boats. All four crew members were extracted from the capsule by 9:34 PM. They were subsequently hoisted into helicopters and flown to the USS John P. Murtha dock ship for medical assessment.
Artemis II launched on April 1 with four astronauts: NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen. During their nearly 10-day mission, they traveled around the moon, achieving distances unmatched by any other crewed mission. Notably, the astronauts photographed the far side of the moon—the side that cannot be viewed from Earth—including closeups of the lunar surface using their smartphones. This makes them the first humans to personally view the lunar far side.
During a post-splashdown news conference, NASA announced that the agency will soon announce the crew for Artemis III. Artemis III is planned to rendezvous with one or both commercial landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin in low Earth orbit. This mission will take humans to the lunar surface and test the lander’s ability to dock with Orion before humans land on the moon again.