NASA's Orion spacecraft carrying Artemis II crew members is seen as it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, the United States, on April 10, 2026. NASA's Artemis II mission splashed down off the coast of San Diego, the U.S. state of California Friday evening. (Bill Ingalls/NASA/Handout via Xinhua)
LOS ANGELES, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Four astronauts returned safely to Earth on Friday after completing a 10-day mission around the Moon, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said.
The capsule Orion touched down at about 17:07 local time (0007 GMT Saturday) in the Pacific Ocean, some 96 km off the San Diego coast, the U.S. state of California, according to NASA. It was the first crewed lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972.
After splashing down, Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman said that all four crew members are in good condition. The other three crew members are NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
NASA said the crew traveled a total of 1.12 million km over the course of the mission. Weather and sea conditions at the recovery site were favorable, with winds and wave heights within NASA's required safety limits.
The capsule re-entered Earth's atmosphere using a modified flight path designed to reduce peak heating loads on the heat shield. NASA developed the adjusted profile following issues identified during the Artemis I uncrewed test flight in 2022.
A U.S. Navy recovery team aboard the USS John P. Murtha was positioned to recover the crew following the splashdown.
"We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon, bringing them back safely," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said following the splashdown.
NASA said the crew set a new record for the farthest distance any humans have ever traveled from Earth during the mission, depicting Artemis II as a key step toward future crewed lunar landings under the Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the lunar surface in 2028, with the long-term goal of building a base on the moon. ■
NASA's Orion spacecraft carrying Artemis II crew members is seen as it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, the United States, on April 10, 2026. NASA's Artemis II mission splashed down off the coast of San Diego, the U.S. state of California Friday evening. (Joel Kowsky/NASA/Handout via Xinhua)
NASA's Orion spacecraft carrying Artemis II crew members is seen as it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, the United States, on April 10, 2026. NASA's Artemis II mission splashed down off the coast of San Diego, the U.S. state of California Friday evening. (Josh Valcarcel/NASA/Handout via Xinhua)
NASA's Orion spacecraft carrying Artemis II crew members is seen as it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, the United States, on April 10, 2026. NASA's Artemis II mission splashed down off the coast of San Diego, the U.S. state of California Friday evening. (Josh Valcarcel/NASA/Handout via Xinhua)