WASHINGTON: Four astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission were hurtling back to Earth on Friday, preparing for a Pacific Ocean splashdown after completing the first crewed journey around the Moon in more than half a century.
The crew — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — were travelling inside the Orion capsule as it began its final descent, expected to culminate in a splashdown off the coast of Southern California.
They’re halfway home.
The Artemis II astronauts have hit the “halfway” mark between the Moon and the Earth. They will splash down in the Pacific Ocean around 8:07 pm ET on Friday, April 10 (0007 UTC on Saturday, April 11), off the coast of San Diego. pic.twitter.com/CQmOuDTVGh
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
The return sequence includes separation of the crew capsule from its service module, followed by a high-speed re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, during which temperatures outside the spacecraft are expected to reach around 2,760°C. A brief communications blackout of about six minutes is anticipated before parachutes deploy for a controlled landing.
If successful, the mission will mark a major milestone for NASA, signalling a return to human lunar exploration for the first time since the Apollo era of the 1960s and 1970s.
The Artemis II crew had the rare chance to see a solar eclipse from space. 🚀🌘☀️
This video stitches together views from Orion’s solar array wing cameras throughout the eclipse, showing the Sun as it disappears behind the Moon, revealing a glowing halo around the lunar disk. pic.twitter.com/d3Z64hVbef
— NASA (@NASA) April 9, 2026
Launched on April 1 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the crew travelled around the far side of the Moon and ventured farther into space than any humans before them, reaching a distance of more than 252,000 miles from Earth.
The mission also marked several historic firsts, with Victor Glover becoming the first Black astronaut to take part in a lunar mission, Christina Koch the first woman, and Jeremy Hansen the first non-American to do so.
Artemis II serves as a critical test flight ahead of NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade — a feat not achieved since Apollo 17 in 1972.
The mission is part of NASA’s broader Artemis programme, which aims to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon as a stepping stone for future missions to Mars.
The Orion spacecraft’s thrusters ignited for the second return trajectory correction burn to fine‑tune the spacecraft’s path toward Earth.
Splashdown of Artemis II is expected around 8:07pm ET on Friday, April 10 (0007 UTC on Saturday, April 11), off the coast of San Diego. pic.twitter.com/VuRw7IVqpP
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) April 10, 2026
A key focus of the return journey is the performance of Orion’s heat shield, which was modified following higher-than-expected stress during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022. Engineers adjusted the re-entry trajectory to reduce heat buildup and mitigate risk.
NASA officials said weather conditions in the designated splashdown zone appeared favourable, with recovery teams on standby to retrieve the capsule and assist the astronauts shortly after landing.
The spacecraft’s descent, from atmospheric entry to ocean landing, is expected to take less than 15 minutes, followed by recovery operations lasting about an hour.
The mission has drawn global attention, not only for its technical achievements but also as a symbol of renewed momentum in human space exploration.
