The astronauts of Artemis II they returned from the Moon with a dramatic splashdown in the Pacific on Fridayending humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than half a century.
It was a triumphant return for the four-member crew, whose record-breaking lunar flyby revealed not only extensive areas of the far side of the Moon —never before seen by human eyes—but also a total solar eclipse.
The commander Reid Wisemanthe pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and the Canadian Jeremy Hansen entered the atmosphere traveling at Mach 33—or 33 times the speed of sound—at a dizzying speed not seen since the Apollo missions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1960s and 1970s. Its Orion capsule, called Integritydescended on autopilot.
Tension rose in Mission Control when the capsule became engulfed in red-hot plasma during peak warm-up and entered a planned communications blackout.
All eyes were on the ship’s heat shield, responsible for protecting life on board and withstanding thousands of degrees during reentry. On the capsule’s only previous test flight — in 2022, without a crew — the charred exterior of the shield returned with markings reminiscent of the surface of the Moon.
1 / 29 | This was the return of the Orion capsule to Earth. Artemis II mission pilot Victor Glover descends from the recovery helicopter onto a Navy ship in the Pacific off the coast of California. -NASA
Like many others, senior flight director Jeff Radigan He anticipated feeling some of that “irrational fear that is part of human nature,” especially during the six minutes of blackout that preceded the opening of the parachutes. The recovery ship USS John P. Murtha was waiting for the crew off the coast of San Diego, along with a squadron of military planes and helicopters.
The astronauts’ families gathered in the Mission Control observation room, where they erupted in applause as the capsule emerged from the communications blackout and again upon splashdown.
The last time NASA and the Department of Defense coordinated the reentry of a lunar crew was with Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II was projected to return at 36,170 feet per second — or 24,661 miles per hour (mph) — just shy of the record, before decelerating to a 19 mph splashdown.
1/8 | Artemis II leaves the dark side of the Moon: photos from the ship. NASA’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft regained contact with Earth this Monday after spending about 40 minutes in absolute silence while flying over the far side of the Moon, a common interruption in this type of mission. – The Associated Press
“A perfect splashdown on target,” reported Rob Navias from Mission Control.
Artemis II’s record flyby and views of the Moon
Launching from Florida on April 1, astronauts achieved milestone after milestone as they precisely executed NASA’s long-awaited return to the Moon, the first major step toward establishing a sustainable lunar base.
Artemis II did not land on the Moon or enter lunar orbit. But it broke Apollo 13’s distance record and marked the farthest point humans have traveled from Earth, reaching 252,756 miles.. In one of the most emotional moments of the mission, the astronauts tearfully asked permission to name a pair of craters after their spacecraft and Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.
During Monday’s record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes from the far side of the Moon never before seen by the human eye, along with a total solar eclipse. The eclipse, in particular, “left us all speechless,” Glover said.
His sense of wonder and excitement captivated everyone, as did his stunning images of the Moon and Earth. The crew of Artemis II evoked the pioneers of Apollo 8 with an “Earth setting”showing our blue planet descending behind the gray Moon, in a scene that recalled the iconic image Earthrise of 1968.
“It makes you want to keep coming back,” Radigan said on the eve of splashdown. “It is the first of many trips and we have to continue because there is so much more to learn about the Moon.”
The mission attracted global attention and prominent figures, receiving praise from President Donald Trump; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; King Charles III of the United Kingdom; Ryan Gosling, star of the space movie Project Hail Mary; Scarlett Johansson of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and even Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner from the original series Star Trek.
Artemis II was a test flight for future lunar missions
Despite its important scientific achievements, the nearly 10-day mission was not without technical problems. Both the drinking water system and the capsule’s propulsion system had valve failures. In one of the most notable inconveniences, the toilet repeatedly stopped working, although the astronauts downplayed it.
“We can’t explore deeper if we’re not willing to do things that are uncomfortable,” Koch said. “Unless we make some sacrifices, unless we take some risks, and all of that is worth it.”
1/18 | From the silence of space: Artemis II reveals stunning images of Earth. This image provided by NASA shows a view of Earth captured by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from the window of the Orion spacecraft after completing the translunar injection maneuver. – NASA via AP
Hansen added: “You can do a lot of testing on the ground, but the final test is when you take this equipment into space, and it’s a tough one.”
Under the revamped Artemis program, next year’s Artemis III mission will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with one or two lunar landing modules in Earth orbit. Artemis IV will attempt a two-person lunar landing near the Moon’s south pole in 2028.
Wiseman said the Artemis II crew felt a strong commitment to future missions.
“But what we really hoped,” he said, “was that, even for a moment, the world would stop and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and that we should all value what we have been given.”