Overview
- The Orion capsule, carrying Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, splashed down off San Diego on Friday at 5:07 p.m. local time after a 10‑day flight.
- Reentry pushed Orion to roughly 38,000–40,000 km/h and more than 2,700°C, a planned six‑minute blackout cut comms, and a trio of parachutes slowed the capsule for a water landing.
- The mission marked the first human voyage near the Moon in over 50 years, set a new distance record of about 406,771 km from Earth, and yielded hours of far‑side imaging and eclipse views.
- NASA and U.S. Defense recovery teams retrieved the crew, who were reported healthy, as engineers now inspect the heat shield and the steeper entry profile chosen after Artemis I’s erosion findings.
- The flight validated Orion, the SLS rocket and Europe’s service module from Bremen that supplied propulsion, power and life support, while a certified lunar lander remains the key hurdle for a planned 2028 touchdown.