NASA's Artemis II Astronauts Returned to Earth After Historic Moon Journey

NASA's Artemis II Crew returned to Earth today, April 10, 2026. The first astronauts to venture to the Moon in more than 50 years, concluding a landmark mission that pushed human spaceflight farther than ever before.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, splashed down at 5:07 p.m. PDT on Friday off the coast of San Diego. Their return marked the end of a nearly 10‑day voyage that carried them 252,756 miles from Earth at their most distant point.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman praised the crew and the national commitment behind the mission. “Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy, welcome home, and congratulations on a truly historic achievement. NASA is grateful to President Donald Trump and partners in Congress for providing the mandate and resources that made this mission and the future of Artemis possible,” Isaacman said. He emphasized the risks the crew accepted as the first humans to fly aboard the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, adding that their work “pushed human exploration farther than ever before.”

Following splashdown, recovery teams from NASA and the U.S. military assisted the astronauts out of Orion and transported them by helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha for initial medical evaluations. They are expected to return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston on Saturday, April 11.

A Record‑Breaking Flight

Over the course of the mission, the Artemis II crew traveled 694,481 miles. Their lunar flyby carried them beyond the distance reached by Apollo 13 in 1970, setting a new record for the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth.

The mission began on April 1, when the crew launched atop NASA’s SLS rocket from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39B. With 8.8 million pounds of thrust, SLS delivered Orion—nicknamed Integrity by the crew—into orbit with remarkable precision.

During their first day in space, astronauts and ground teams conducted a full checkout of Orion’s systems. NASA also deployed four international CubeSats into Earth orbit. On Day 2, Orion’s service module fired its main engine to send the crew on a trajectory toward the Moon, bringing them within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface.

NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya celebrated the mission’s success. “The Artemis II crew is home. The entry, descent, and landing systems performed as designed, and the final test was completed as intended,” he said. “This moment belongs to the thousands of people across fourteen countries who built, tested, and trusted this vehicle.”

Testing Orion for the Future

Artemis II was the first time Orion carried astronauts, giving engineers the opportunity to evaluate the spacecraft in deep space. The crew tested life support systems, performed manual piloting demonstrations, and gathered data that will shape future rendezvous and docking operations for Artemis III.

They also conducted a range of operational tests—evaluating emergency procedures, exercise protocols, spacesuit performance, and other critical systems needed for long‑duration missions.

Scientific investigations were a major component of the flight. The astronauts supported studies on human physiology in microgravity and deep‑space radiation, including the AVATAR experiment, which examines how human tissue responds to the space environment. These findings will help NASA prepare astronauts for extended stays on the Moon and eventual missions to Mars.

Capturing the Moon in Unprecedented Detail

During their April 6 lunar flyby, the crew captured more than 7,000 images, including views of earthrise, earthset, impact craters, ancient lava flows, and a solar eclipse seen from Orion’s vantage point. They documented the terminator—the line dividing lunar day and night—where long shadows reveal surface features similar to those in the Moon’s South Pole region, the planned landing site for Artemis III in 2028.

The astronauts also proposed names for two previously unnamed craters and reported meteoroid impact flashes on the Moon’s night side.

Looking Ahead to Artemis III

With Artemis II complete, NASA and its international partners now shift focus to Artemis III. Next year’s mission will test integrated operations between Orion and commercially built lunar landers in low Earth orbit, paving the way for astronauts to return to the lunar surface.

NASA describes this era as a new Golden Age of exploration—one aimed at scientific discovery, economic opportunity, and establishing a sustained human presence on the Moon as a stepping‑stone to Mars.