The four astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—have successfully completed their lunar flyby and are now on their way back to Earth. The crew, which launched on April 1, 2026, reached the farthest distance from Earth ever traveled by humans on April 6, 2026, marking a historic milestone in space exploration.
The Orion spacecraft is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, on April 10, 2026, at 7:07 p.m. CT. The crew has been conducting systems and performance tests during their journey, including manual piloting exercises and capturing over 10,000 images of the lunar surface. These tests are crucial for future missions aimed at returning humans to the moon's surface.
During their flyby, the astronauts witnessed the moon's far side in daylight, a sight not seen by human eyes since the Apollo era. They also experienced a total solar eclipse from deep space, observing the moon fully eclipsing the sun for nearly 54 minutes. The crew shared a ship-to-ship call with the International Space Station, marking the first-ever moonship-to-spaceship radio linkup.
The mission has also provided valuable data for future lunar landings, including insights into the moon's evolution and the performance of NASA's deep-space infrastructure. The astronauts have been documenting their observations, which will guide the next generation of lunar explorers.
As the crew prepares for their return, NASA's recovery teams are in position off the Southern California coast to assist with the splashdown. The mission's success paves the way for future Artemis missions, including a planned moon landing in 2028.