Artemis 2 Successfully Returns to Earth After Historic Lunar Mission

The NASA Orion spacecraft returned to Earth on April 11, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California, at 9:07 a.m. Korean time. The landing concluded a 10-day mission that marked the first time humans have traveled toward the Moon in 54 years.

The crew of four—NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen—were recovered by the U.S. Navy using a San Antonio-class ship. The mission, known as Artemis 2, was designed as a lunar flyby rather than a landing mission, utilizing a free-return trajectory to orbit the Moon and return to Earth.

During the flight, the crew traveled further from Earth than any previous human mission and conducted exploration of the Moon’s far side. The mission served as a critical foundation for future lunar landings, testing the capabilities of the Orion spacecraft and the crew’s ability to operate in deep space.

The mission launched on April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center’s LC-39B pad, propelled by the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The crew operated from the Orion CM-003, designated as Integrity. The flight required precise manual piloting by the astronauts during the return phase to ensure a safe atmospheric reentry.

The successful launch followed a series of technical delays. NASA had originally aimed for a December launch, but the schedule was pushed back after a hydrogen rocket fuel leak was discovered during a “wet dress rehearsal” in February. A subsequent launch window in March was also canceled following the discovery of a helium leak.

NASA has scheduled the Artemis 4 mission for launch in 2028, with the objective of landing astronauts in the lunar South Pole region.