'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
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.
-ABC News' Matthew Glasser
Crew will experience an eclipse on Day 6 of mission
The Artemis II crew will get the chance to see a solar eclipse on the sixth day of the 10-day mission.
The sun's corona will be visible, NASA officials said during a press conference Thursday night.
Translunar injection burn was 'flawless,' NASA says
During a press conference on Thursday night, Lori Glaze, acting associate administrator at NASA, said that the critical translunar injection burn was "flawless."
“From this point forward, the laws of orbital mechanics are going to carry our crew to the moon, around the far side and back to Earth,” Glaze said.
Crew reports 'phenomenal' views of Earth
Astronaut Jeremy Hansen told Mission Control that the crew is "glued to the window" of the spacecraft, enjoying the views of Earth.
“None of us can get to lunch because we’re glued to the window. We’re taking pictures,” he said, calling the sight of their home planet from space "phenomenal."