Artemis II Crew Splashes Down After Historic Moon Flyby

The Artemis II crew — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on April 10, 2026, at 20:07 EDT. They became the first humans to fly toward the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972.

The 10-day mission took the crew on a trajectory around the Moon, during which they set a new record for the farthest distance ever traveled from Earth by humans. The spacecraft was recovered by the USS John P. Murtha, where medical teams confirmed all four astronauts were in excellent health.

“They became the first humans to fly toward the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972.”

The crew represented the best of international collaboration, with Canada's Jeremy Hansen joining three NASA astronauts on the historic flight — a testament to the global nature of humanity's return to deep space.

NASA praised the mission as a major milestone in the Artemis program. The next step, Artemis III, will test orbital rendezvous techniques in low Earth orbit, with the first crewed lunar landing now planned for Artemis IV. The successful Artemis II flight validated the Orion spacecraft's life support systems for deep-space travel and confirmed the heat shield could withstand re-entry speeds from lunar distances.

The mission generated worldwide excitement and reignited public interest in space exploration. Schools across the globe organized watch parties for the splashdown, and social media engagement with NASA's channels reached record levels during the mission.