The crew of Artemis II has safely returned to Earth, marking the successful completion of a landmark journey around the Moon, the first human mission of its kind in over 50 years.
The NASA astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a 10-day mission that saw them travel nearly 695,000 miles and venture farther from Earth than any humans before.
The mission marks humanity’s first crewed trip to the Moon’s vicinity since the Apollo era in 1972, signaling a major step forward in renewed global space exploration.
Onboard the Orion spacecraft, the four-member crew, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, successfully completed a lunar flyby and returned in good health.
During the mission, the astronauts reached a record distance of over 252,000 miles from Earth, surpassing previous human spaceflight milestones.
The spacecraft endured extreme re-entry conditions, hitting speeds of about 25,000 mph before deploying parachutes for a precise ocean landing.
The mission also broke new ground in representation: Koch became the first woman, Glover the first Black astronaut, and Hansen the first non-American to travel around the Moon.
NASA says the success of Artemis II provides critical data and confidence for future missions, including plans to land humans on the Moon again later this decade and eventually establish a sustained lunar presence.
With Artemis II completed, attention now shifts to the next phase of deep space exploration, bringing humanity closer to a permanent return to the Moon and future missions to Mars.
