Artemis II Crew Splashes Down After Record Moon Mission
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- Artemis II crew splashed down in the Pacific off San Diego around 5 p.m. PT after a 10-day trip around the moon, with NASA reporting all four members in 'excellent shape.'
- NASA's Orion spacecraft, dubbed Integrity by its crew, shed its service module and dove toward Earth at 24,000 mph before 11 parachutes deployed starting at 12,000 feet to slow it to 17–20 mph for splashdown.
- Crew members Victor Glover, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, and Reid Wiseman were described as in excellent condition during NASA's livestream, with re-entry characterized as a 'textbook entry.'
- The mission, which launched on April 1, traveled 252,756 miles from Earth, breaking Apollo 13's record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from the planet.
- Re-entry sequence involved the capsule separating from its service module and then deploying a series of 11 parachutes at 12,000 feet to achieve a gradual Pacific Ocean splashdown.
Why it matters: By shattering Apollo 13's 56-year-old distance record, Artemis II marks the farthest humans have traveled from Earth and sets the stage for a future crewed lunar landing under NASA's Artemis program, while demonstrating Orion's heat-shield and parachute systems performed as designed.
