Artemis II Crew Splashes Down Safely, Capping 10-Day Lunar Test Flight

Overview

• The Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific off San Diego at 5:07 p.m. local Friday (00:07 GMT Saturday), and NASA said the four astronauts were in good health.
• Reentry heated Orion’s heat shield to roughly 2,700°C, and a revised, more direct entry path—adopted after unexpected erosion seen in 2022 tests—performed as planned.
• The descent lasted about 12 minutes with roughly six minutes of communications blackout, then drogue and main parachutes slowed the capsule for a pinpoint landing.
• The crew traveled about 406,771 km from Earth, a human distance record, and marked firsts with Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Canadian Jeremy Hansen flying around the Moon, capturing striking views of an Earthset, a lunar eclipse, and meteoroid flashes.
• U.S. Navy teams recovered the astronauts and Orion, and NASA says hundreds of gigabytes of data will now feed plans for a 2027 mission and an aimed 2028 lunar landing that still depends on lander readiness and partner commitments.