'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 03, 2026, 5:14 PM EDT

NASA says Artemis II crew 'really excited about this opportunity’

During a press conference on Friday, NASA leaders said the Artemis II crew is in "great spirits" and "really excited about the opportunity to be there and what's going on."

Orion's navigation and propulsion systems are performing so well that thew crew will not perform the planned trajectory burn scheduled for this evening, NASA said.

CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen participates in the daily planning conference in Orion spacecraft as it heads to the moon, April 3, 2026.
NASA

"I think it's really good to see that we don't need these minor correction burns. It shows that our navigation performance and our ability to get ranging has been outstanding," Howard Hu, program manager for the Orion spacecraft, said

On Friday, the astronauts spent some time conducting a "noise characterization" assessment of the toilet's noise levels.

The crew also had time to exercise and did a CPR demonstration. NASA said the astronauts are conducting a medical kit evaluation and will test emergency communications with the Deep Space Network.

-ABC News' Matthew Glasser

Apr 03, 2026, 1:41 PM EDT

Artemis II crew awakes to 'In a Daydream'

The Artemis II astronauts woke up around 1:00 p.m. ET on day 3 of their mission to the moon.

"Whenever you want to do some wake-up music, we can do some post-wake-up music," mission commander Reid Wiseman told Mission Control.

A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four windows after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026.
Reid Wiseman/NASA

NASA's Mission Control in Houston played "In a Daydream" by the Freddy Jones Band.

Day 3 will include demonstrating CPR procedures in space and checking out some of Orion's medical kit, including the thermometer, blood pressure monitor, stethoscope and otoscope, according to NASA.

A view of a backlit Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's window after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026.
Reid Wiseman/NASA

The crew will also begin to configure the cabin for its upcoming lunar flyby so it has the most ideal setup for capturing images and data of the far side of the moon.

Additionally, the Artemis II astronauts will be doing a Deep Space Network emergency communications test make sure the system works.

-ABC News' Matthew Glasser and Mary Kekatos

Apr 03, 2026, 10:18 AM EDT

Out of this world photos from Orion capsule revealed

NASA released the first batch of high quality photos of Earth taken from the Orion capsule.

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this picture of Earth from the Orion spacecraft's window on April 2, 2026, after completing the translunar injection burn.
Reid Wiseman/NASA

The images show the crew’s view as they look back at the pale blue dot we call home, while continuing their journey toward the moon.

A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four main windows after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026.
Reid Wiseman/NASA

According to NASA, the images were taken on Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman's "personal computing device, PC or tablet."

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado

Apr 03, 2026, 8:19 AM EDT

View of Earth in day and night from Artemis II Orion spacecraft

During Friday morning's video feed from the Orion spacecraft, NASA captured an image of Earth partly in daytime and partly at night.

The Earth is the object on the right that appears crescent-shaped. Orion is about 77,000 miles from Earth here.

Earth is seen from the Orion spacecraft, April 3, 2026.
NASA

-ABC News' Matthew Glasser

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