The four astronauts of the Artemis II splashed down in the Pacific Ocean just after 8 p.m. ET bringing an end to their historic voyage around the moon.
As a little kid in the late 60s/early 70s, I was fascinated by space travel.
NASA’s Orion module splashed into the Pacific Ocean just after 8 p.m. Eastern on Friday, safely delivering the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission from their record-setting journey around the moon.https://t.co/jLT7xwUETC pic.twitter.com/I2fpzebcyO
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 11, 2026
From the Washington Post:
The successful landing marks the conclusion of an important test for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon’s surface and eventually push deeper into the solar system.
Artemis II was the first crewed mission to utilize NASA’s Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew module – demonstrating that the agency’s equipment can propel people out of Earth’s orbit and bring them safely home.
During their 10 days in space, the crew — pilot Victor Glover, commander Reid Wiseman, and mission specialists Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch – traveled farther from Earth than any human has before.
Glover was the first Black man and Koch the first woman to leave low Earth orbit. Hansen, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut, was the first non-U.S. citizen to reach the moon.
Read more at the Washington Post (gift link).
Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! 🫶
The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end. pic.twitter.com/1yjAgHEOYl
— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026
