Artemis II Splashes Down Safely Off California, Completing 10-Day Lunar Flyby

Overview

• The Orion capsule, which splashed down Friday at 8:07 p.m. ET near San Diego, was met by NASA and U.S. Navy recovery teams.
• Reentry drove speeds near 38,000–40,000 km/h and temperatures around 2,700–3,000°C, caused a roughly six‑minute blackout, and ended with drogue and then three main parachutes for a controlled ocean landing.
• NASA adjusted Orion’s reentry profile after Artemis I shed heat‑shield material, and the steeper, shorter path was flown to limit heating as planned.
• Divers opened the hatch and the four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—were flown by helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha for medical checks and were reported in good condition.
• The 10‑day mission brought humans back to lunar vicinity for the first time in more than 50 years, set a new distance record of about 406,771 km, and now supplies data for Artemis III as lunar lander development could influence the schedule.