After 10 days, four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft have returned to Earth, their mission around the Moon a success.
According to NASA, Integrity, the name of the crewed spacecraft as part of NASA’s Artemis II mission, splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California at 5:07 p.m. Pacific time. The four crew members – three Americans and one Canadian – were all in “green” (or safe and sound) status following the Orion craft’s “perfect” landing.
The crew consisted of Commander Reed Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. From liftoff to splashdown, the quartet were in space for just over nine days (NASA called it a 10-day mission).
Artemis II was NASA’s first mission to orbit the Moon in more than 50 years. The crew traveled farther from Earth than humans ever have before – reaching an estimated 252,760 miles from our planet. During its journey, the crew orbited the Moon photos by their flying over never-before-seen parts of the surface, and even witnessing a total solar eclipse. They identified new craters, naming one Wiseman succeeds his wife Carol, who died of cancer in 2020.
“These were ambassadors to the stars that we sent there,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said after the landing. “I can’t imagine a better crew. It was a perfect mission.”
