Artemis II Crew Completes Lunar Flyby, Heads Home to Earth

Overview

• The four-person crew, which rounded the Moon on Monday night, is now on a return path with splashdown targeted for Friday off California.
• The mission delivered the first human lunar flyby since 1972 and the first to include a woman, a Black astronaut, and a Canadian.
• Astronauts made first‑hand observations of parts of the Moon’s far side, including the Orientale basin, and recorded notes and high‑definition images for scientists.
• The flight set a new human distance record from Earth by surpassing Apollo 13’s roughly 406,000 kilometers.
• NASA used the pass to validate Orion’s crewed operations, with a routine 40‑minute radio blackout behind the Moon and live coverage of Earthrise and a solar eclipse, as the agency eyes a 2028 landing that depends on commercial landers still in development.