Artemis II Crew Nears Pacific Splashdown After Lunar Flyby

The Artemis II mission, marking humanity's first crewed flight beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972, is set to conclude with the scheduled splashdown of the Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, on the evening of April 10, 2026. The ten-day lunar flyby began with a launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 1, 2026, aboard the Orion capsule named Integrity. This mission has already secured a historical milestone by surpassing previous human spaceflight distance records during its trajectory.

The four-person crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen—achieved a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth on April 6, 2026. This distance exceeded the Apollo 13 record of 248,655 miles, set in 1970, by approximately 4,105 miles. The final phase of the journey involves the precise execution of the return sequence, including the separation of the service module about 20 minutes before atmospheric reentry. The Orion capsule is projected to approach Earth at a velocity approaching 25,000 miles per hour, requiring a carefully calculated trajectory to manage the intense heat shield stress observed during the uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022.

The targeted splashdown time is approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT (5:07 p.m. PDT), concluding a journey integral to NASA's Artemis program, which aims to establish a durable lunar presence and prepare for future crewed missions to Mars. Recovery operations are a complex, multi-agency effort orchestrated by the U.S. Navy. The primary recovery platform will be the San Diego-based amphibious transport dock ship, the USS John P. Murtha (LPD 26), a San Antonio-class vessel commissioned in 2016.

The recovery sequence involves Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 (HSC-23) tracking the capsule via MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters during descent, followed by the retrieval of the astronauts to the Murtha for initial medical assessment. Concurrently, Navy divers from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group One (EODGRU-1) are tasked with securing the Orion capsule in the water and transporting it to the ship’s well deck. EODGRU-1 will also provide the dive medical team to assist the astronauts immediately upon egress. The mission validates essential life-support and navigation systems for deep space operations, mirroring the free-return trajectory used by Apollo 13.

Beyond technical validation, the crew achieved several firsts: Victor Glover became the first person of color, Christina Koch the first woman, and Jeremy Hansen the first non-U.S. citizen to travel around the Moon. Commander Reid Wiseman also captured historic imagery, including an 'Earthset' photograph. The successful completion of this flight is foundational for NASA’s long-term objective of establishing a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.