The four astronauts who flew in NASA's Artemis II mission around the Moon have splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean after a flawless return. The crew are now safely aboard a waiting ship and recovering from a nine-day voyage that took them further from Earth than any humans in history.
Their Orion spacecraft was traveling at more than 24,000 mph (38,600 km/h) when it hit the Earth's upper atmosphere, and its heatshield was subjected to temperatures half as hot as found on the surface of the Sun. Their safe return clears the way for the next stage of the Artemis program, which aims to land humans on the lunar surface and eventually build a permanent base on the Moon.
The extreme heat meant the capsule, which the astronauts named Integrity, lost contact with mission control in Houston for six minutes during the descent. There were cheers when Commander Reid Wiseman's voice was heard saying: Houston, Integrity here. We hear you loud and clear. The mission's moment of maximum jeopardy had passed, and soon the spacecraft's red-and-white parachutes opened and sent the capsule sailing majestically through the sky.
Nasa commentator Rob Navias called it a perfect bull's eye splashdown. The astronauts - Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen - were carefully extracted from the capsule and taken by helicopter to the USS John P Murtha, where they will undergo medical evaluations. NASA said they would be flown to Houston to be reunited with their families.
There had been concerns over the spacecraft's heatshield, given previous unexpected damage during an uncrewed test flight. Engineers adjusted the re-entry path after simulations suggested it would reduce thermal stress on the shield. This mission was the first practical test of the new approach in-flight, and it appears to have succeeded.
The Artemis program aims to intensify Moon exploration, land humans on the Moon for the first time since 1972, establish a permanent lunar base, and prepare for a crewed mission to Mars. The next flight in the program, Artemis III, is scheduled for mid-2027, targeting the first Moon landing with Artemis IV in 2028. Although the Artemis II mission doesn’t put boots on the Moon, it confirms the hardware works, the trajectory holds, and people can meet the challenges ahead.
