Artemis II prepares for splashdown

After becoming the first humans to fly around the far side of the moon in over half a century, the Artemis II astronauts are reflecting on a mission that has broken distance records.

The crew shared emotional accounts of their journey, including naming a lunar crater after the late wife of mission commander Reid Wiseman.

NASA engineers are closely monitoring the spacecraft's heat shield, which faced scrutiny following minor damage during the previous uncrewed test flight.

A successful splashdown off the coast of California on Friday will pave the way for future crewed landings on the lunar surface.