Blazing re-entry to ocean touchdown: Watch visuals of Artemis 2 crew return as Orion hits Pacific

NASA’s Artemis 2 mission has successfully come to an end, with four astronauts safely returning to Earth after a historic journey around the Moon.

The crew splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on April 10, marking a major moment in modern space exploration.

The astronauts travelled nearly 10 days in space, covering more than 694,000 miles during their mission.

This was the first time humans went around the Moon and returned safely in over 50 years, since the Apollo missions of the 1970s.

The crew included Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. 

The mission was historic in many ways. Koch became the first woman to travel to the Moon, Glover the first Black astronaut to do so, and Hansen the first non-American astronaut on a lunar mission.

During the journey, the spacecraft, called Orion, travelled farther from Earth than any human mission before, reaching a record distance of over 252,000 miles.

The return to Earth was one of the most critical parts of the mission. As the capsule re-entered the atmosphere at very high speed, it faced extreme heat of around 4,000°F.

Communication was briefly lost due to the intense conditions before the parachutes deployed and slowed the spacecraft for a safe splashdown.

Recovery teams quickly reached the capsule and brought the astronauts on board a US Navy ship for medical checks. They are now expected to return to Houston for further evaluation and rest.

NASA officials said the mission was an important step in preparing for future Moon landings. Artemis 2 tested the spacecraft systems, life support, and safety features needed for deep space travel.

The success of Artemis 2 has now set the stage for upcoming missions, including plans to land humans on the Moon again later this decade.

With this mission, NASA has taken a big step forward in its goal of sending humans deeper into space, including future missions to Mars.