Back from the moon: Artemis astronauts safely return to Earth

After 9 days and 21 hours, NASA’s Artemis astronauts safely returned to Earth late Friday, April 10, splashing down in the ocean after completing the latest phase of the agency’s renewed push toward the moon.

The crew traveled aboard the Orion capsule (that they dubbed “Integrity”), which reentered Earth’s atmosphere before deploying parachutes and landing in a designated recovery zone, where teams quickly moved in to retrieve both the spacecraft and its passengers. NASA confirmed the astronauts were in good condition following the landing.

[NOTE: This video includes the complete reentry footage. The actual splashdown occurs at 1:39:30, and the astronauts begin disembarking from the helicopters onto the waiting aircraft carrier landing area at 3:35:56.]

(NASA / Josh Valcarcel) NASA’s Artemis II mission concluded as the Orion capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean following a successful 10-day mission.

The Artemis crew were part of some historic and memorable moments. They were the first crew to be the furthest from the Earth, breaking Apollo XIII’s record. They were also granted the honor of naming two moon craters — one after their moonship capsule Integrity and the other after Commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife Carroll. And on April 6, they also witnessed a 54-minute solar eclipse as their capsule continued on its orbit.

The mission marks another step forward in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon for the first time since the Apollo era and eventually establish a sustained presence there. Unlike earlier missions, Artemis is designed with longer-term goals in mind, including future crewed landings and the development of infrastructure that could support deep space exploration.

Officials have framed the mission as both a technical milestone and a proof of concept for the systems needed to safely transport astronauts beyond low Earth orbit and back again.

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The successful splashdown comes as NASA continues to face pressure over timelines and costs tied to Artemis, a program that has drawn both excitement and scrutiny. Still, Friday’s return offers a visible reminder of the agency’s ambitions — and the progress, however incremental, toward putting humans back on the lunar surface.

about NASA & Artemis II

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