Overview
- The Orion capsule ended its 10‑day test flight with a Pacific splashdown near San Diego on Saturday, bringing Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen back to Earth.
- Before splashdown, the European service module separated and burned up as planned while Orion rode out a several‑minute plasma blackout with heat‑shield temperatures near 2,700 °C, then deployed drogue and main parachutes for descent.
- Strong currents complicated recovery, so divers used inflatable boats and Navy helicopters to move the crew to the amphibious ship USS John P. Murtha, where doctors began standard post‑flight checks and the astronauts walked aboard.
- NASA used a steeper reentry than Artemis I to shorten heat‑shield exposure after earlier erosion concerns, and systems including guidance, comms re‑acquisition and parachutes performed as intended.
- Mission leaders called the outcome a “perfect” return and said the flight set a new human distance record and captured far‑side lunar observations, with hardware processing for Artemis III set to begin at Kennedy Space Center on April 20.