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

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

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.

Apr 06, 2026, 2:53 PM EDT

Artemis II crew begins historic lunar flyby

The Artemis II crew's historic lunar flyby began around 2:45 p.m. ET.

The flyby, which should take around seven hours, will see the Orion spacecraft be close enough to the moon for the crew "to make detailed observations of geologic features on the lunar surface," according to NASA.

NASA said coverage will include live views of the moon taken by cameras that are mounted on Orion's solar arrays.

A visualization of the Orion spacecraft approaching the moon.
NASA
Apr 06, 2026, 2:42 PM EDT

'Make sure this record is not long lived,' Artemis II crew says

As the Artemis II astronauts broke the record for the farthest distance traveled by humans from Earth, they received a special message from Mission Control.

The Capsule Communicator, or CAPCOM -- which is the go-between for the astronauts and Mission Control -- recalled the previous record set by the Apollo 13 crew.

"Today, for all humanity, you're pushing beyond that frontier. Integrity, over to you," Mission Control stated.

The Orion spacecraft flies towards the moon as it prepares to surpass the Apollo 13 record as the farthest astronauts to ever leave Earth, April 6, 2026.
NASA

Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen shared a message on behalf of the Artemis II crew, honoring the astronauts that came before them.

"We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear," Hansen said. "But we, most importantly, choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long lived."

Apr 06, 2026, 2:03 PM EDT

Artemis II crew sets record for farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth

The Artemis II crew has officially set the record for the farthest distance that humans have traveled from Earth, occurring at 1:57 p.m. ET.

The previous record was set in 1970 by the Apollo 13 crew, which traveled 248,655 miles from Earth.

NASA said that, at about 7:07 p.m. ET, the four astronauts will travel a maximum distance of 252,760 miles from Earth.

Apr 06, 2026, 1:01 PM EDT

What the Artemis II astronauts are eating aboard the Orion spacecraft

The Artemis II mission astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft, which is scheduled to do a lunar flyby today, will be well-fed and hydrated with a specially crafted menu for space.

Food menu for the Artemis II crew while in orbit.
NASA

The menu, which was designed according to operational constraints and to fit each phase of the mission, was selected with input from the four-person crew, which NASA says had a chance to "sample, evaluate, and rate all foods on the standard menu during preflight testing."

Those preferences "are balanced with nutritional requirements and what Orion can accommodate," according to NASA.

Read more here.

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