
Artemis II astronauts safely back on Earth after historic trip around the Moon

Artemis II astronauts safely back on Earth after historic trip around the Moon
The Artemis II capsule descended under parachutes towards the Pacific Ocean on Friday (Apr 10) after nearly 10 days in space, marking the first crewed journey to the Moon’s vicinity in over 50 years.
The crew reached a record distance from Earth, travelling more than 1.1 million kilometres, surpassing the previous distance record set by Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970.
The capsule’s re-entry pushed the spacecraft to its limits, plunging through the atmosphere at 32 times the speed of sound as temperatures soared to around 2,760°C.
After a brief communications blackout, parachutes deployed successfully, slowing the capsule before a precise splashdown off the Southern California coast.
Recovery teams swiftly secured the capsule as astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen were lifted to safety and flown to a Navy vessel.
