'Welcome home, Artemis': Crew celebrates historic 10-day moon mission

After their historic lunar flyby, the crew safely splashed down in the Pacific.

ByMary Kekatos, Julia Jacobo, Leah Sarnoff, Ivan Pereira, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: April 11, 2026, 5:12 PM EDT

NASA's Artemis II mission lifted off on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The four-person crew completed a 695,081-mile, 10-day journey around the moon, also known as a lunar fly-by.

A "textbook" splashdown took place at 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, April 10.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Apr 01, 2026, 11:38 AM EDT

A look back at prior missions to the moon

The Artemis II mission, set to lift off as early as Wednesday and fly around the moon, is the latest chapter in a long history of lunar exploratory space missions launched by NASA over the last six decades.

In the same way that Artemis II serves as the first crewed spaceflight to test technology for future missions to the moon and Mars, Apollo 8, which launched on Dec. 21, 1968, was the first crewed spaceflight to reach the moon and also served as a lunar landing preparation mission, preceding Apollo 11's July 20, 1969, lunar landing.

The Apollo 11 Saturn V space rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, July 16, 1969.
NASA

Read more here.

-ABC News' Mason Leib

Apr 01, 2026, 11:01 AM EDT

Weather should be favorable for launch, forecast shows

Weather is expected to be a green light at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the Artemis II mission to launch.

The two-hour window from 6:24 to 8:24 p.m. will feature temperatures in the mid to low 70s, forecasters say.

Artemis Forecast Map
ABC News
Artemis Forecast Map
ABC News

Winds will be between 8 and 16 mph, with a rare gust up to 20 mph, max.

There will be a mix of clouds and clear skies with no forecast chance for rain or lightning.

-ABC News’ Kenton Gewecke

Apr 01, 2026, 10:06 AM EDT

Artemis II mission to the moon: By the numbers

As NASA engineers and astronauts prepare to launch the Artemis II rocket to the moon today, here are some key numbers regarding the mission.

Artemis II by the numbers
Adobe

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-ABC News' Julia Jacobo

Apr 01, 2026, 9:59 AM EDT

Artemis crew awake and beginning launch day activities

The Artemis II crew is now awake and beginning their launch day activities.

NASA astronaut and mission commander Reid Wiseman, NASA astronaut and pilot Victor Glover, NASA astronaut and mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency Astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen will have breakfast and then begin their final preparations for launch day.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen stop for a group photograph as they visit NASA's Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, March 30, 2026 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Bill Ingalls/NASA

-ABC News' Matthew Glasser

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