The four astronauts of the Artemis II mission splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday night, concluding a historic 10-day journey around the Moon. The Orion spacecraft touched down at 5:07 pm local time, having travelled 694,481 miles (1,117,659 km) over 9 days, 1 hour and 32 minutes. All crew members were reported to be in good health.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialist Christina Koch of NASA, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, became the first humans to travel to the Moon and return safely since Apollo 17 in December 1972. They join an exclusive group of only 24 other people who have accomplished this feat.
NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said at a press conference: '53 years ago, humanity left the moon. This time we return to stay. Let us finish what they started.' NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman added: 'This is just the beginning. We are going to get back into doing this with frequency, sending missions to the moon until we land on it in 2028 and start building our base.'
During the mission, the crew captured stunning images of the lunar surface and Earth. Christina Koch described her emotional reaction during the closest approach: 'I just had an overwhelming sense of being moved by looking at the moon. It lasted just a second or two... it just reminds us how much we have in common.' Koch became the only woman to have travelled to the Moon and back.
The successful splashdown marks a major milestone for NASA's Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2028. A recovery crew from the USS John P Murtha retrieved the astronauts, who were then transferred to the ship by helicopter. The mission paves the way for Artemis III, a planned crewed lunar landing.
