The four astronauts of the Artemis II mission splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday evening, concluding a historic 10-day journey around the moon. The Orion spacecraft touched down at 5.07pm local time (1.07am BST), having travelled 694,481 miles (1,117,659km) in 9 days, 1 hour and 32 minutes. All crew members were reported to be in good health.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch of Nasa, and Jeremy Hansen of the Canadian Space Agency 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. Koch also became the only woman to have made the journey.
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.'
The crew described profound moments during the flyby. Koch said of seeing the moon up close: 'I just had an overwhelming sense of being moved... it became real.' Wiseman described Earth as having 'a great blue hue'. The mission marks a key step towards a crewed moon landing scheduled for 2028.
