'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
Artemis II crew reaches its initial orbit
The four-person Artemis II crew has reached its initial orbit, one of the first steps as the astronauts head to the moon.
The team will spend about 90 minutes in initial orbit before the second stage fires its engines twice to send Orion to a high Earth elliptical.
Artemis II crew lifts off for the moon
The Artemis II crew lifted off at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
After years of preparation from various parts of the agency, NASA has officially launched its historic Artemis II mission.
The crew of four, including commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover Jr., and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, is now climbing toward orbit.
About eight minutes after launch, the rocket's core stage engines will shut down and separate from the upper stage, and the spacecraft and the crew will be in space.
According to NASA, they'll be traveling about 4,000 miles farther than the Apollo 13 mission.
NASA poll confirms final 'go' for launch
NASA has performed the final poll, with all teams giving a "go" for the Artemis II launch.
The agency has started the terminal count, which is the final 10-minute countdown before launch.
NASA closeout crew departs launch pad
NASA's closeout crew has departed the launch pad after finishing its White Room procedures.
Currently, only the Artemis II astronauts -- Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover Jr. and Jeremy Hanse -- remain in the Orion spacecraft at the top of the SLS rocket, ready for launch.
-ABC News' Briana Alvarado