NASA’s Artemis II capsule and its four-member crew streaked through Earth’s atmosphere and safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after nearly 10 days in space, capping the first voyage by humans to the vicinity of the Moon in over half a century. NASA’s gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule, dubbed “Integrity,” parachuted gently into calm seas off the Southern California coast shortly after 5:07 p.m. Pacific Time, concluding a mission that, four days earlier, took the astronauts 252,000 miles away from Earth, deeper into space than anyone had flown before.
Once Navy divers attached a floating collar to stabilise the capsule, the four astronauts, still wearing their orange flight suits, were helped onto an inflatable raft. From there, they were hoisted one by one to helicopters hovering overhead and flown a short distance to the nearby Navy amphibious transport vessel, the John P. Murtha, for further medical examination.
Astronauts Glover and Koch smiled broadly and waved toward cameras as they sat on the edge of a helicopter door on the flight deck. The crew was expected to spend the night aboard the ship and be flown on Saturday to Houston, where they will be reunited with their families.
U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated the four-member crew of the Artemis II mission after they safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean following nearly 10 days in space, marking the first voyage by humans to the vicinity of the Moon in over half a century.
(Photo Credit: @NASA)
