Artemis II Crew Splashes Down After Historic Moon Flyby

NASA's Artemis II mission has completed its historic 10-day lunar flyby, with the Orion capsule splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off San Diego at 8:07 p.m. EDT on April 10, 2026. This marks the first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972 — a gap of 54 years that has finally been bridged.

The Crew

The four-member crew includes Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Glover becomes the first African American astronaut to fly around the Moon, Koch the first woman to travel this far from Earth, and Hansen the first Canadian to venture into deep space.

Reentry and Recovery

During reentry, the Orion capsule experienced a tense 6-minute communications blackout as it plunged through the atmosphere at extreme speeds. The crew endured forces of up to 3.9 Gs before the capsule's parachutes deployed successfully over the Pacific. The USS John P. Murtha conducted the recovery operation, retrieving the capsule and crew from the ocean. Netflix streamed the entire splashdown live, drawing millions of viewers worldwide.

The Historic "Earthset" Photo

One of the mission's most memorable moments came when the crew captured a stunning "Earthset" photograph — showing Earth disappearing behind the lunar horizon as Orion passed behind the far side of the Moon. The image is already being compared to the iconic "Earthrise" photo from Apollo 8. NASA leadership has hailed the mission as a critical milestone for the Artemis program and a vital stepping stone toward future crewed lunar landings.