Welcome Home: Artemis II Astronauts Return After Historic Moon Orbit
Astronauts aboard the Artemis II spacecraft have returned home after traveling from Earth and orbiting the moon.
This mission was the first time in 54 years that America traveled near the moon.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen landed at 8:07 P.M ET in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, where a combined NASA and U.S. military recovery team was standing by to welcome the Artemis II crew home.
The landing concluded a nine-day trip launched on April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The astronauts have traveled over 694,000 miles.
Artemis II astronauts have traveled 252,756 miles from Earth, flown around the Moon, and observed the lunar surface like never before. Now, they’re coming home. 🌎
Watch the crew splash down on Friday, April 10, around 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11). https://t.co/Ccsk5Z3HFS pic.twitter.com/QoJW2oYVFG
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
LIVE: They are coming home.
Watch as the Artemis II crew returns to Earth, splashing down at around 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11). https://t.co/n3vZE2rcFv
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! 🫶
The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end. pic.twitter.com/1yjAgHEOYl
— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026
Wake up—it’s Artemis II’s last day in space!
As the crew prepares to splash down in the Pacific Ocean this evening, they started their day with “Run To The Water” by Live, their wake-up song played by Mission Control. pic.twitter.com/AKGFIcB05m
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
🚨 BREAKING: The Artemis II’s crew’s capsule has just SEPARATED from the ship, and they’ll soon be re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere
This is the most ESSENTIAL part of the mission — safely splashing down in the ocean
Approximately 30 mins left! pic.twitter.com/I5PrYkrBkR
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 10, 2026
Orion’s main parachute has deployed. The spacecraft has a system of 11 chutes that will slow it down from around 300 mph to 20 mph for splashdown.
Get more updates on the Artemis II blog: https://t.co/7gicm7DWBt pic.twitter.com/ReXHTfkFld
— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026
The ultimate (space) road trip playlist 🎧
The Artemis II astronauts talk about the process of picking their wake-up songs and share their favorite songs from the mission.
Listen to the songs in our Spotify playlist: https://t.co/2fcXhC5iEN pic.twitter.com/SxOil86rdQ
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2026
“This is a relay race.”
Mission specialist Christina Koch describes how the Artemis II astronauts have not only been focused on their mission — but on all future Artemis missions, which will build on their lessons learned and successes. pic.twitter.com/lXTOCk9Onv
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) April 9, 2026
🚨 BREAKING: Artemis II has just been given the GO to execute the RETURN BURN back to Earth — set to reenter the atmosphere at nearly 25,000 MPH
The crucial HEAT SHIELD will keep them safe 🇺🇸
1. The crew module will separate and thrusters will adjust Orion for reentry
2. Heat… pic.twitter.com/LP8f7bpjL9— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 10, 2026