In the early hours of April 11, four astronauts from NASA’s Artemis II mission successfully landed in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego at 02:07 Kyiv time, concluding nearly ten days in space.
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced the landing via social media platform X. Shortly after their return, at approximately 03:34 Kyiv time, the crew members—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—were greeted by a joint team from NASA and the U.S. military.
This team assisted the astronauts in safely exiting the Orion spacecraft while it remained afloat, subsequently transporting them aboard the USS John P. Murtha. Following a medical evaluation, the crew is expected to travel to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
During the mission, the astronauts did not land on the Moon but conducted a flyby, capturing photographs and performing scientific and technological experiments. Additionally, they tested the life support systems of the Orion spacecraft for the first time.
The mission covered a total distance of 694,481 miles, marking the farthest point from Earth ever reached by humans, surpassing the previous record set by the Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970.
While passing the Moon on April 6, the crew took over 7,000 photographs of the lunar surface and a solar eclipse observed from Orion. The images included views of Earth’s sunrise and sunset, impact craters, ancient lava fields, the Milky Way galaxy, and various surface features on the Moon.
Further details will follow as the mission’s findings are analyzed.
NASA's Artemis II mission concluded with a successful return of its crew after a historic flyby of the Moon. The astronauts conducted significant scientific experiments and captured thousands of images during their journey.