Their 10-day Artemis II Moon mission over, the four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft have splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean and emerged safely from their capsule.
The splashdown took place at 8:07 pm EDT on April 10 ( 5:37 am IST on April 11) in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California.
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Launched on April 2, Artemis II marked a major milestone for Nasa, sending four astronauts on the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17.
During their journey, the crew travelled thousands of miles past the moon and even witnessed a total solar eclipse from space.
Artemis II mission
Artemis II was Nasa’s first crewed flight using the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. During the mission, astronauts tested and assessed these systems to support upcoming missions, including Artemis IV, which is targeting a Moon landing in 2028. The crew of four: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, carried out a lunar flyby but did not land on the Moon.
The 10-day journey around the Moon focused on evaluating critical systems for future lunar exploration and helping lay the groundwork for eventual human missions to Mars.
Stay tuned to this LIVE blog for continuous updates on the Artemis II mission.
