Artemis II Crew Returns: Exciting Moon Discoveries Await

Fri Jul 10 2026 17:39:14 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

The Artemis II crew prepares for their return to Earth, sharing insights and discoveries from their historic mission around the Moon as they bring back a wealth of data and experiences.

The Artemis II crew, having completed their lunar flyby mission, expresses eagerness to share their findings and experiences. As they prepare for splashdown near San Diego, astronaut Victor Glover highlights the importance of data collected during their journey, promising exciting stories and pictures from their time in space. The mission set records for human distance traveled and provided unique views of the Moon's far side, which had only been photographed by satellites before.

The Artemis II crew said they have many more pictures and many more stories to share with the world as they prepare to return to Earth.

The four astronauts on board the Orion spacecraft have completed their mission around the Moon and are expected to splash down off the coast of San Diego around 20:00 Friday US EST (00:00 GMT).

Speaking to media from space during their way home, the mission's pilot, Victor Glover, expressed eagerness to share the crew's experiences and discoveries with the world.

This is the first time the crew has communicated since their historic lunar flyby, which took them further from Earth than any previous human mission.

When asked about re-entry to Earth during a Wednesday evening conference, Glover remarked, We have to get back. There's so much data that you've already seen, but all the good stuff is coming back with us.\

He added, There's so many more pictures, so many more stories, highlighting the crew's anticipation of processing and sharing their journey's insights.

The Artemis II mission's spacecraft, Orion, broke the record for human travel, previously held by the Apollo 13 mission, by flying 248,655 miles from Earth.

While not landing on the Moon, the crew had the unique opportunity to fly around its far side, enabling them to view areas that had only been captured in satellite images before.

Upon returning, the crew will have several days of checks and experiments ahead of their fiery re-entry into Earth's atmosphere at nearly 25,000 mph, culminating in a parachute splashdown into the Pacific Ocean.