NASA’s Artemis II astronauts have returned safely to Earth, completing the first crewed mission to travel around the Moon in more than 50 years.
The Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California at 5:07pm local time (00:07 GMT) on Friday, following a high-speed re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere.
Recovery teams were already in position, moving quickly to secure the capsule and bring the crew aboard.
On board were NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Minutes before re-entry, Wiseman, the mission commander, radioed mission control: “We got a great view of the Moon out window 2 – looks a little smaller than yesterday.”
“Guess we’ll have to go back,” came the reply from Houston.
The return marked a crucial test for the Orion spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, demonstrating it can safely withstand the intense conditions of a lunar re-entry.
The capsule endured a dramatic 13-minute descent, slamming into the atmosphere at extreme speed. Temperatures on its exterior climbed to about 2,760 degrees Celsius (5,000 degrees Fahrenheit), hot enough to generate a plasma layer that briefly cut off communications with the crew.
Contact was restored as parachutes deployed, slowing Orion’s descent before it gently hit the ocean.
Recovery crews later opened the hatch and began extracting the astronauts, who reported minor communication issues but were otherwise in good condition.
“We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon, bringing them back safely and [are] set up for a series more,” said NASA chief Jared Isaacman from a US Navy recovery ship.
The four astronauts launched just over a week ago from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, embarking on a 10-day journey that took them farther from Earth than any humans since the Apollo era.
They travelled around the far side of the Moon, testing systems designed for future missions, before heading back to Earth.
