The four astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion capsule have safely returned to Earth after Artemis II splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, bringing an end to a historic mission around the moon.
NASA confirmed that the spacecraft touched down at 5.07pm local time, which was 1.07am BST. The journey from launch to splashdown lasted 9 days, 1 hour and 32 minutes, though the mission will be recorded officially as a 10-day flight because blast-off day counted as “flight day one”.
The mission covered a total distance of 694,481 miles, or 1,117,659km, according to NASA. That figure reflects the full round trip to the moon and back, making Artemis II a notable milestone in the agency’s lunar exploration programme.
The splashdown off the California coast marked the end of a mission that was closely followed as one of NASA’s most significant crewed deep-space flights in years. The four astronauts completed the trip in Orion, the capsule designed for future exploration beyond low Earth orbit.
Artemis II’s return caps a record-breaking flight profile, with the mission completing its lunar flyby and safe re-entry before landing in the Pacific. NASA’s confirmation of the splashdown closed out the latest stage of the Artemis programme, which is intended to prepare for future crewed missions to the moon.
Although the elapsed time came just short of a full ninth day beyond launch, the official mission count will still be listed as 10 days under NASA’s day-one convention. That accounting method, used from liftoff, means the flight is recognized as a 10-day mission in the agency’s records.
The successful landing off San Diego ended the crew’s journey with a controlled ocean recovery, completing the spacecraft’s return from lunar distance to Earth.
