'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 at the stages of the Artemis II journey
After a successful launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday evening, the Artemis II crew of four is headed to the moon on a 10-day journey.
How does a nearly 6 million-pound rocket and crew module make that journey possible? It’s all about physics.
Read more here to learn about the stages from liftoff to Earth orbit to the trans-lunar injection burn and, finally, the journey home.
-ABC News' Briana Alvarado
Crucial trans-lunar injection burn is a 'go'
The Artemis II mission management team has polled "go" for the crucial trans-lunar injection burn, which will send the crew on its path to the moon.
The burn will take place at 7:49 p.m. ET.
-ABC News' Matthew Glasser
Artemis II crew awakens to John Legend's 'Green Light'
NASA's Mission Control in Houston just awakened the Artemis II crew with the song "Green Light," by John Legend featuring the rapper André 3000. The astronauts also received voice messages from members of the NASA workforce.
The crew will begin flight day 2 activities and operations, including exercise time, and is now approximately 20 hours into the mission.
In the next few hours, the Artemis II mission management team will decide whether to proceed with the trans-lunar injection burn that will send Orion on its path to the moon.
In response to the musical wakeup, Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman replied, "Houston, Integrity, we are ready to go, and that was awesome. Thank you for all those messages."
-ABC News' Matthew Glasser
Team to decide whether crucial trans-lunar injection burn is a 'go'
The Artemis II mission management team will meet shortly to make a pivotal "go" or "no-go" decision for the trans-lunar injection (TLI) burn.
If it's a "go" for the TLI, the burn will occur Thursday at 7:49:50 p.m. ET. This burn commits the Orion spacecraft to the remainder of its 10-day mission.
The TLI burn is the final major engine firing of the Artemis II mission. It will propel Orion on its path toward the moon, setting it on a free-return trajectory that will carry it around the far side of the moon and back to Earth using gravity as an assist. It will also ensure that the spacecraft returns to Earth, even if a system failure occurs.
The main engine on Orion's service module, known as the Orbital Maneuvering System engine, will provide 6,000 pounds of thrust during the nearly six-minute burn. That's enough power to accelerate a car from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 2.7 seconds.
-ABC News' Matthew Glasser