'Welcome home, Artemis': Crew celebrates historic 10-day moon mission
After their historic lunar flyby, the crew safely splashed down in the Pacific.
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
- Crew makes 1st appearance since return from historic mission
- 'Welcome home, Artemis': Jubilant and emotional, crew speaks out on historic moon mission
- Trump says he will welcome Artemis II crew to White House 'soon'
- NASA officials hail 'new era' of space exploration after successful mission
- Crew members hoisted into helicopters
- All 4 crew members out of the capsule
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.
Read more here.
-ABC News' Mason Leib
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.
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
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.
Read more here.
-ABC News' Julia Jacobo
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.
-ABC News' Matthew Glasser