'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
Splash down confirmed
Orion has splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at the expected time of 8:07 p.m. ET, marking an end to the crew's historic 10-day, 695,081-mile journey around the moon and back.
3 main chutes deploy
The three main parachutes have also successfully deployed, as Orion approaches splashdown.
Parachutes deploy
Parachutes have been deployed to help slow the rapid descent of the spacecraft ahead of splashdown.
NASA regains communications with crew
After an expected 6-minute blackout, NASA has regained communications with the crew.