Overview
- After the crew splashed down Friday off California, new NASA video showed the hatch opening on Orion and commander Reid Wiseman naming rescuers Jesse Wang, Laddy Aldridge, Vlad Link and Steve Kapala.
- During reentry, Orion hit about 40,000 km/h, faced heat near 2,700°C, lost contact for six minutes, and then slowed under 11 parachutes for a Navy pickup to the USS John P. Murtha.
- NASA says the 10‑day lunar flyaround validated Orion’s life‑support and communications, returned far‑side images of the Moon, and set a new crewed distance mark.
- The flight also carried organ‑on‑a‑chip devices grown from the astronauts’ bone‑marrow cells in a proof‑of‑concept to study deep‑space effects, with detailed results still pending.
- Using Artemis II data, the agency is finalizing a roadmap that includes Artemis III tests of commercial lunar landers in 2027 and a target for the first Artemis landing in early 2028, with Orion now in post‑flight inspection.