The 10-day voyage of the Artemis II is over, and the brave astronauts who took a relatively quick trip to the moon have safely landed back on Earth.
Or, would it be more accurate to say that they have safely splashed down on Earth?
Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! 🫶
The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end. pic.twitter.com/1yjAgHEOYl
— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026
Astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), Christina Koch (mission specialist), and Jeremy Hansen (mission specialist from the Canadian Space Agency) safely came back home Friday evening, splashing down off the coast of San Diego, per NASA.
Navy and NASA officials swiftly extracted the astronauts and prepared to bring in the Orion spacecraft.
President Donald Trump’s White House posted a live feed of the event to commemorate the safe return of the four astronauts:
NASA’s Artemis II Crew Comes Home https://t.co/ZOLmyaqTY9
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 10, 2026
The Artemis II mission is the first in 50 years to bring humans as close to the moon as the four who just returned.
Beyond the scientific importance of this mission, it was also an emotional one, according to the Associated Press.
The outlet reported that Wiseman and the crew shared a touching moment of remembrance by naming a small moon crater after the commander’s late wife.
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