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The crew was hoisted by helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha, where they underwent medical evaluations before flying to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston the following day.
The mission served as the first crewed flight test of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, validating life support systems, manual piloting capabilities, and emergency procedures.
New Footage Shows Artemis II Capsule Opening After Historic Moon Mission Splashdown
April 15, 2026
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Newly released footage reveals the moment recovery crews opened NASA's Orion capsule after the Artemis II crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on 10 April 2026. The four astronauts completed a 10-day, 700,000-mile journey around the Moon - the first crewed lunar mission in over 50 years - setting a new record for the farthest humans have ever travelled from Earth.
Historic Lunar Mission Concludes With Pacific Splashdown
NASA's Artemis II crew has safely returned to Earth after completing the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than half a century. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen splashed down at 5:07 p.m. PDT on 10 April 2026, off the coast of San Diego, concluding a nearly 10-day journey that took them 252,756 miles from Earth at their farthest point.New Recovery Footage Released
Video released by NASA this week shows the dramatic moment a recovery crew opened the hatch of the Orion capsule, named Integrity, to applause and cheers from the recovery team. The four astronauts were found safe and in good health. Commander Reid Wiseman also shared helmet-cam footage on social media showing the recovery from the crew's perspective inside the capsule.The crew was hoisted by helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha, where they underwent medical evaluations before flying to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston the following day.
Record-Breaking Achievement
During a lunar flyby on 6 April, the crew reached 248,655 miles from Earth, surpassing the Apollo 13 record for the farthest crewed spaceflight in history. The astronauts captured high-resolution photographs of the Moon's surface, including a striking image of Earth sinking below the lunar horizon - a view unseen by human eyes since the Apollo era.The mission served as the first crewed flight test of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, validating life support systems, manual piloting capabilities, and emergency procedures.
What Comes Next
With Artemis II complete, NASA now turns its attention to Artemis III, planned for 2027, which will test integrated operations with commercially built Moon landers in low Earth orbit. SpaceX's Starship HLS and Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 2 are both in development as Human Landing Systems. The first crewed lunar landing of the Artemis programme is tentatively scheduled for 2028 under Artemis IV.Published April 15, 2026 at 7:41am
