NASA’s Artemis II Astronauts splash down safely in the Pacific Ocean

The four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — completed their historic 10-day journey and safely splashed down in the ocean via the Orion spacecraft.

NASA posted on the social media platform X: “Welcome back, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! The Artemis II astronauts have safely splashed down at 8:07 p.m. ET. This concludes their historic 10-day lunar journey.”

In an earlier post, the agency highlighted the spacecraft’s descent process, stating, “Orion’s main parachute has deployed. The spacecraft has an 11-parachute system that will slow it from nearly 300 miles per hour to about 20 miles per hour for a safe landing on Earth.”

Before returning to Earth, NASA informed that after completing a journey of approximately 690,000 miles, the crew was approaching Earth.

The mission has become a global talking point as, for the first time in more than five decades, humans have ventured beyond low-Earth orbit into deep space.

During the mission, the crew set a new distance record by traveling 248,655 miles from Earth and reached a maximum distance of approximately 252,756 miles at their farthest point. In doing so, they broke the previous record set by the Apollo 13 mission.

Officials stated that the mission was specifically designed to rigorously test the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft in the harsh environment of deep space — this time with astronauts on board. Flying past the Moon was a critical part of this test, helping prepare for future missions.

NASA official Dr. Laurie Glaze said this achievement demonstrates that the agency is continuously working to push new boundaries. Meanwhile, astronaut Hansen stated that this mission honors the legacy of past space scientists and explorers and marks the beginning of a new era of exploration.

The Artemis II mission is considered a significant step toward NASA’s larger goal of establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon. It lays the foundation for even bigger future space endeavors.