Historic return to the Moon culminates in dramatic splashdown off San Diego

The first crewed flight to the Moon in over 50 years ended at 5:07 p.m. Friday with a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego.

After a fiery re-entry, the four Artemis II astronauts in the Orion Capusle — NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency’s  Jeremy Hansen — landed under three giant parachutes amid clear Pacific skies.

Re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere began at 4:53 p.m. southeast of Hawaii, with friction raising the temperature around the Orion capsule to 3,000 degrees and cutting radio communion for six minutes.

Just after 5:01 p.m., Koch called in, confirming the capsule had successfully made it through the most stressful part of the re-entry.

Moments after the splashdown, NASA confirmed that the four astronauts were in good condition.

“This is the just beginning,” said NASA Administrator Jacob Isaacman after the landing. “We’re going to get back into this with frequency, sending missions to the moon.”

After the splashdown, Navy divers will assist the astronauts onto an inflatable raft, and then MH-60S SeaHawk helicopters will fly them to the nearby USS John P. Murtha, an amphibious transport dock ship from Naval Base San Diego.

Aboard the Murtha, the astronauts will be checked by doctors in the warship’s medical bay.

The four will then be flown to North Island, where awaiting aircraft will take them to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.