The Artemis II crew splashed down safely off the coast of San Diego just after 5:07 p.m. local time on Friday, April 10
Credit: NASA via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- The Artemis II crew has successfully returned to Earth after over a week in space
- This astronauts made history in space when they reached a distance of 248,655 miles from Earth, breaking a previous record set back in 1970
- Experts hope the mission will pave the way for humans to return to the moon’s surface by 2028
Houston, that's a wrap on the Artemis II mission.
Four astronauts — pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and commander Reid Wiseman from NASA, as well as Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen — splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego just after 5:07 p.m. local time on Friday, April 10.
The crew reached the top of the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 400,000 feet around 4:53 p.m, followed by an expected six-minute communications blackout, which occurred due to buildup of plasma around the Orion capsule. During the blackout, the capsule reached its maximum speed of about 24,661 mph, which is over 30 times the speed of sound. The capsule reached its period of peak heating as well, with the exterior of the vehicle facing temperatures of around 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
By the point communication resumed with Wiseman, to cheers in Houston, the crew was about 157,000 feet above the Earth — and just over 5 minutes from officially coming home.
Next, a series of parachutes were rapidly deployed to ensure the crew's gentle descent into the waters, before they ultimately splashed down at a speed of about 19 mph.
The astronauts did not land on the moon; rather, they were tasked with a test flight in the hope that humans could return to the moon's surface in the next two years.
During the mission, the Artemis II crew set a record for farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, surpassing the record of 248,655 miles previously set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970, according to NASA. The crew also captured incredible images of the far side of the moon.
Although in the hours before splashdown, all eyes were on their spacecraft’s heat shield — which NASA previously said was flawed, according to The New York Times — NASA developed a modified path for the Artemis II mission in order to keep the crew safe during re-entry.
It has been more than 50 years since astronauts last went to the moon. NASA's last moon expedition, Apollo 17, took place in 1972.
Another future moon mission is still under development and could theoretically launch as soon as 2028.
"We will get to landing on the moon, but Artemis II is really about the crew,” Patty Casas Horn, deputy lead for Mission Analysis and Integrated Assessments at NASA, told CNN earlier this year.
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Wiseman previously told Time that he and his fellow astronauts were “taking the next right step in a sustained lunar presence” by participating in the mission.
"The important thing about being first," he added, "is that there’s a second, third, fourth, and more."
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