PACIFIC OCEAN – Humanity’s long-awaited return to deep space reached a triumphant conclusion on Friday evening, April 10, 2026, as the NASA Artemis II Orion spacecraft made a textbook splashdown off the coast of San Diego. The mission, the first crewed journey to the lunar vicinity in over 50 years, officially concludes a historic 10-day odyssey that has paved the way for a permanent human presence on the Moon.
At 5:07 p.m. PDT, the charred Orion capsule—carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—descended under three massive orange-and-white parachutes, hitting the Pacific waters at a gentle 20 mph.
The final leg of the journey was a test of engineering extremes. Orion hit the Earth’s atmosphere at a staggering 25,000 mph (40,000 km/h). As the spacecraft compressed the air in front of it, outside temperatures soared to a blistering 2,700 degrees Celsius—roughly half the temperature of the sun.
During the descent, the crew experienced an expected six-minute communications blackout caused by the envelope of plasma surrounding the capsule. Cheers erupted at Mission Control in Houston when the first "call-back" from Commander Wiseman confirmed that all four astronauts were safe and the cabin pressure was stable.
Artemis II was more than just a flight; it was a landmark mission of "firsts" that pushed the boundaries of human reach. By swinging around the far side of the Moon on April 6, the crew traveled further into deep space than any humans in history. This voyage saw Christina Koch become the first woman to fly to the Moon, while Victor Glover made history as the first person of color to embark on a lunar mission. Additionally, Jeremy Hansen secured his legacy as the first non-American to leave low-Earth orbit, marking a new, inclusive chapter in deep-space exploration.
One of the mission's most poignant moments occurred during the lunar flyby, when the crew witnessed a total solar eclipse from behind the Moon—a perspective never before seen by human eyes.
The recovery was led by the USS John P. Murtha, with Navy divers and NASA engineers working in tandem to secure the capsule. Within two hours of splashdown, the four astronauts were seen waving from the deck of the recovery ship, appearing remarkably fit despite their time in microgravity.
"Welcome to our moonshot," said Lori Glaze, NASA’s Artemis program manager, during a victory press conference. "This mission proved that we can once again send humans safely to cislunar space. We aren't just visiting; we are building a foundation for the future."
With the success of Artemis II, NASA is now "full steam ahead" for Artemis III, the mission intended to land the first woman and next man on the lunar South Pole, currently targeted for 2028. The data gathered from Orion’s heat shield and life-support systems over the last 10 days will be critical in refining the landers that will eventually touch the lunar dust.
For now, the Artemis II crew will head back to Houston for debriefing and medical evaluations, having successfully closed the first chapter of humanity’s new "Golden Age" of space exploration.