Spaceflight

Artemis 2 splashdown! Astronauts return safely from historic mission

Posted by

Kelly Kizer Whitt

and

Deborah Byrd

and

Will Triggs

and

April 11, 2026

2 smiling people in orange flight suits. — Astronauts Victor Glover, pilot, left, and Christina Koch, mission specialist, are all smiles as they sit in a helicopter on the flight deck of USS John P. Murtha. Their Orion spacecraft splashed down at 5:07 p.m. Friday, April 10, 2026, in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Welcome home, Artemis 2! Image via Bill Ingalls/ NASA.

The four Artemis 2 astronauts splashed down in the Pacific, off the coast of California, on Friday evening, April 10, 2026. And the world sighed with relief at the successful conclusion of their historic mission and the safe return of the four. Their mission – a trip around the moon that took them farther from Earth than humans have ever been – is planned as the first in a series that’ll ultimately give us a human base on the moon, with a bird’s-eye view toward our neighboring planet Mars.

The Artemis 2 test flight launched on Wednesday, April 1, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

And 10 days later, the Orion spacecraft with the four astronauts aboard once again encountered Earth’s atmosphere, traveling at nearly 25,000 mph (roughly 35 times the speed of sound). Orion splashed down at approximately 5:07 p.m. PDT on Friday, landing less than a mile from its target off the coast of San Diego.

The mission was a resounding success, with all four astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen – reported to be “happy and healthy” upon their recovery by the USS John P. Murtha.

Meanwhile, sonic booms were reported and widely felt across Southern California following the Artemis 2 reentry. The reentry and sonic booms occurred between 5:00 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. local time (PDT). The USGS Earthquakes team had proactively requested that residents share their experiences through the Did You Feel It? survey to help map the spatial extent of the booms. Scientific teams from institutions like Johns Hopkins University also deployed seismic and acoustic sensors across the Southern California Bight to record the shockwaves for research on space debris and meteor impacts.

You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, subscribe to EarthSky’s free daily newsletter.

More images from the astronauts’ historic return

2 smiling men, one pointing at the camera. — Welcome home! Astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander, left, and Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist from the Canadian Space Agency, sit in a navy helicopter after their successful return to Earth on Friday, April 10, 2026. Image via Bill Ingalls/ NASA.

A space capsule splashes into a wide blue sea, with red and white parachutes beginning to collapse above. — The Artemis 2 mission’s Orion spacecraft – named Integrity by the 4 astronauts aboard – safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, at 5:07 p.m. local time last night. The 4 brave astronauts are home again! Image via NASA.

Helicopter hovering above raft floating in the ocean, with humans aboard. One person is being lifted toward the helicopter. — Navy divers and Artemis 2 astronauts aboard an inflatable raft are approached by helicopters and lifted away to the recovery ship after egressing NASA’s Orion spacecraft carrying Artemis 2 Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, along with Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), following splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California, on Friday, April 10, 2026. Image via James Blair/ NASA.

The Artemis 2 moon mission

As they soared some 4,600 miles (7,400 km) above the lunar surface on April 6, the brave astronauts had no contact with Earth for 40 minutes. This communications outage was expected, as the moon was blocking all signals between our planet and the spacecraft. It was during that time that the crew set the new distance record: 252,756 miles (406,771 km), the greatest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth.

They also became the first humans to see parts of the moon’s far side in daylight. During the closest approach, some 21% of the moon’s far side was illuminated by the sun, revealing parts of our natural satellite that were in darkness for the Apollo astronauts. The unlit portions of the moon were interesting, too. And the Artemis 2 crew reported seeing at least four impact flashes from micrometeorites hitting the lunar surface.

And the sights didn’t end there for astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen. Soon after Earth reappeared over the lunar horizon – and communications with mission control were restored – the crew were treated to a unique total eclipse of the sun. For around an hour, the sun’s wispy outer atmosphere – the corona – formed a beautiful bright halo around the moon. And with the sun obscured, the astronauts also had a stunning view of the stars. Wiseman said:

It’s just indescribable. No matter how long we look at this, our brains are not processing this image in front of us. It is absolutely spectacular, surreal … There’s no adjectives. I’m going to need to invent some new ones, there’s absolutely no words to describe what we are looking at out this window.

Best images from Artemis 2

Cratered moon in the foreground, with Earth lit as a crescent sinking behind the moon. — NASA calls this view of Earth an “earthset.” But it’s not like a sunset on Earth. It’s not caused by the spin of the moon. Instead, it’s caused by the movement of the spacecraft as it sails at thousands of miles per hour above the lunar surface. The astronauts captured it through the window of the Orion spacecraft on April 6, 2026, during the Artemis 2 crew’s flyby of the moon. Image via NASA.

Here’s astronaut Christina Koch looking back at Earth, out the window of the Orion spacecraft – aka Integrity – on its way to the moon. Image via NASA.

Earth in the light of a full moon. A bright dot to the top left. — Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman captured this image of Earth as the Orion spacecraft left Earth orbit and began its figure-8 journey to the moon and back. North is up. This is the night side of Earth lit by the almost full moon. Look closely and you’ll see city lights in Europe and Africa. The large brown area is the Sahara. Spain is above it. Earth is eclipsing the sun. A thin line of atmosphere glows from sunlight shining through it. The glow of zodiacal light shines at the upper left: sunlight illuminating dust in the inner solar system. The bright object at upper left is Venus. Image via Reed Wiseman/ NASA.

Artemis 2 spacecraft on the left, a crescent moon in the center and a tiny crescent Earth on the right. — This image, from a camera on the Artemis 2 spacecraft’s solar panel, was taken just before the craft flew behind the moon on its historic flyby on April 6, 2026. It captured all living earthlings in a single view, including those of us on the planet itself, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in near-Earth space and the 4 brave astronauts who flew around the moon. Image via NASA.

Artemis 2 Commander Reid Wiseman peers out a window of the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis 2 crew’s flyby of the moon on April 6, 2026. Image via NASA.

The moon showing a large impact crater centered and many smaller craters near the terminator at upper right. — The region in the center of this image is called Orientale basin. It’s a 600-mile-wide (965 km) impact crater that lies along the transition between the near and far sides of the moon. So it’s sometimes partly visible from Earth. We’re seeing it here fully illuminated by sunlight; this is the first time it’s been seen at lunar “noon” by human eyes. The black patch of ancient lava in the center punched through the moon’s crust billions of years ago. The small, bright crater to its left is Byrgius, which has 250-mile (400 km) rays extending out from its basin. See a cropped version of this image. Image via NASA.

Four smiling astronauts get close together for a pic. Two are wearing mics. You can see equipment on the left. — Midway through their 7-hour lunar observation period on April 6, the Artemis 2 crew members – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – pause to turn the camera around for a selfie inside the Orion spacecraft. Image via NASA.

A darkened moon showing a whitish glow around it that is distant sunlight. — Captured by the Artemis 2 crew during their lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, this image shows the moon fully eclipsing the sun. From the crew’s perspective, the moon appears large enough to completely block the sun, creating nearly 54 minutes of totality and extending the view far beyond what is possible from Earth. The corona forms a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk, revealing details of the sun’s outer atmosphere typically hidden by its brightness. Also visible are stars, typically too faint to see when imaging the moon, but with the moon in darkness stars are readily imaged. This unique vantage point provides both a striking visual and a valuable opportunity for astronauts to document and describe the corona during humanity’s return to deep space. The faint glow of the nearside of the moon is visible in this image, having been illuminated by light reflected off the Earth. Image via NASA.

Best videos from Artemis 2

An emotional moment for the Artemis 2 crew

Perhaps the most touching moment of the mission so far came when the crew announced that they’d like to name some craters they could see through their windows.

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen told NASA mission controllers that they’d like to name one unnamed crater on the moon’s far side “Integrity”, after their spacecraft. And the second he asked to name “Carroll”, after fellow crew member Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll Taylor Wiseman, who died in 2020. This crater is on the moon’s near side-far side border, meaning it is sometimes visible from Earth.

Coming just after the crew had surpassed the record for the greatest distance from Earth ever reached by humans, it was a beautifully emotional moment. Take a look at the videos below.

To commemorate the Artemis II mission, the astronauts announced their suggestion to rename certain features on the Moon to honor the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, as well as commander Reid Wiseman's late wife, Carroll. pic.twitter.com/ejfhnItDo8

— NASA (@NASA) April 6, 2026

Artemis 2 launched toward the moon on April 2

The Artemis 2 mission with its four brave astronauts aboard launched April 1, 2026, but truly left Earth behind on April 2. The critical engine burn – called a translunar injection burn – happened at 7:49 p.m. EDT (23:49 UTC) on April 2. The maneuver was needed to propel the four humans from planet Earth on a journey around our moon’s far side … for the first time since 1972. The burn was a major success and seemed perfectly executed to the millions watching around the world (the official NASA livestream had a peak of 3 million concurrent viewers, plus more on other platforms). The burn lasted for 5 minutes and 55 seconds. Confirmation from teams on the ground was that it was a “very good burn.”

At the completion of the burn, the Orion space capsule in which the crew is riding was 520 miles (837 km) away from Earth, moving toward the moon. Now that the lunar flyby is over, the crew is on the second part of a figure-8 trajectory around the moon; this trajectory will now carry them back to Earth.

Artemis: A rocket atop a towering pillar of flames and smoke zooms upward. — Artemis 2 launched successfully from Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026. Image via Greg Diesel Walck.

Meet Christina Koch

Meet the first member of our #Artemis II Moon crew: mission specialist @Astro_Christina!

Christina Koch visited the @Space_Station in 2019, where she took part in the first all-woman spacewalk. She began her career as an electrical engineer at @NASAGoddard. pic.twitter.com/mi82SayXUm

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

Meet Victor Glover

Our #Artemis II pilot is @AstroVicGlover!

Victor Glover is part of our 2013 class of @NASA_Astronauts and was the pilot for NASA’s @SpaceX Crew-1 mission. He’s logged 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft, and will pilot @NASA_Orion around the Moon. pic.twitter.com/P0zJ8pwaeL

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

Meet Jeremy Hansen

Representing the @csa_asc on #Artemis II to the Moon is @Astro_Jeremy, from London, Ontario.

Jeremy Hansen was a fighter pilot before joining CSA, and currently works with NASA on astronaut training and mission operations. This will be Hansen’s first mission in space. pic.twitter.com/zIVetAQeFE

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

Meet Reid Wiseman

…and rounding out our #Artemis II Moon crew: mission commander @Astro_Reid!

Reid Wiseman lived & worked aboard the @Space_Station as a flight engineer in 2014. He also commanded the undersea research mission NEEMO21, and most recently served as Chief of the @NASA_Astronauts. pic.twitter.com/AincR66wpf

— NASA (@NASA) April 3, 2023

Rewatch the launch here

Watch the Artemis 2 mission launch toward the moon.

What is the Artemis 2 moon mission?

No nation has sent humans anywhere near the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972. All crewed missions since then have remained in low-Earth orbit, meaning humans haven’t traveled to the moon’s distance in more than 50 years. But now that has changed.

Boeing is the prime contractor for the mighty Space Launch System (SLS) that propelled the astronauts into Earth orbit. The astronauts are riding in Orion, NASA’s deep-space crew capsule, built by Lockheed.

Orion is following what’s known as a free-return trajectory, which is the same safety approach used during Apollo. Even without further engine firings, the spacecraft would loop around the moon and naturally return home.

But on its way to the moon and back, the Orion crew capsule will be able to make small burns. These will allow for more precision in the angle at which the craft encounters the moon and returns to Earth for splashdown.

Back in July 2024, the Artemis 2 rocket core (orange, lying horizontally) could be seen while being transported to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Scientists and engineers had been at work inside the building preparing for the Artemis 2 launch. Image via Greg Diesel Walck for EarthSky.

Part of a spacecraft in the foreground, and the moon in the background against black space. — Here’s NASA’s uncrewed Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft capturing a selfie as it flew near the moon in November 2022. Image via NASA.

NASA announced major changes to Artemis program in late March

Though it didn’t affect the Artemis 2 launch, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at a press conference on March 24 that major overhauls were coming to the Artemis program.

These changes include a more-frequent schedule of launches for the 6-million-pound (2.7 million kg) rocket, called the Space Launch System (SLS). The goal now is to have just 10 months between launches. Earlier, NASA had envisioned 3 1/2 years between launches.

And the next launch after Artemis 2 – Artemis 3 – will no longer be landing on the moon. Instead, it’ll remain in low-Earth orbit to “get back to basics,” as Isaacman said. Artemis 3 will be used to test the complex systems required for future moon landings, for example, rendezvous and docking. So, Isaacman said, Artemis 3 will launch ideally by mid-2027. NASA also wants to give the astronauts opportunities to check out spacesuit performance.

Artemis 4 and 5, which would be the moon-landing missions, could happen in 2028.

A tall, mostly orange rocket stands on a platform under a deep blue sky. — The Artemis 2 spacecraft has become the 1st mission in more than half a century to carry people around the moon, before returning to Earth. The Artemis 2 craft – consisting of the mighty Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket and the Orion crew capsule – was poised to go to the moon since January 17, 2026. That’s when NASA 1st rolled the Artemis 2 craft to historic Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Image via NASA/ Ben Smegelsky.

A tall rocket in the open doorway of a giant building full of machinery. — Reid Wiseman shared this view of the Artemis 2 rocket on January 17, 2026, as it was rolling out to historic Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. But its mission to send 4 astronauts around the moon and back was delayed. Image via Reid Wiseman/ NASA.

The vision of the Artemis program

Ultimately, the Artemis program aims to send the first humans back to the moon this decade. When they go, they’ll be aiming for the moon’s south pole, a place that scientists – as discovered in recent decades – has large amounts of water ice. Water contains oxygen, so processing it will make it possible for future astronauts to stay longer.

Someday, visionaries still hope, we will have a permanent presence on the moon, and we will go to Mars.

Indeed, such dreams are an integral part of humanity’s natural wanderlust in the 21st century. And so future historians might look back at our time – and at the Artemis missions – as the moment humanity took a true giant leap to space, maybe this time for good.

Bottom line: The Artemis 2 spacecraft and its four astronauts safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego, California, at 5:07 last night. Welcome home!

NASA says it failed Starliner astronauts, blasts Boeing

What are Artemis 2 astronauts eating on their moon trip?

New NASA moon suit makes its debut

Ice on the moon is widespread, new study shows

Posted

April 11, 2026

Spaceflight

Kelly Kizer Whitt

View Articles

About the Author:

Kelly Kizer Whitt - EarthSky’s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube - writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She's been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children's picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.

Deborah Byrd

View Articles

About the Author:

Our Editor-in-Chief Deborah Byrd works to keep all the astronomy balls in the air between EarthSky's website, YouTube page and social media platforms. She's the primary editor of our popular daily newsletter and a frequent host of EarthSky livestreams. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. In 2020, she won the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society, the largest organization of professional astronomers in North America. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.

Will Triggs

View Articles

About the Author:

Will Triggs joined EarthSky to work on our daily newsletter, and has since also become a popular presenter of space news on our YouTube channel. He fell in love with stargazing after moving to Norfolk on England's east coast, where the dark skies allowed him to catch a glimpse of the Milky Way for the first time. Having joined EarthSky after completing degrees in English and Creative Writing, he is passionate about communicating the beauty and importance of what's around us, and what's above us.

View All

Artemis 2 splashdown! Astronauts return safely from historic mission