Artemis II Splashes Down Safely

The Artemis II mission reached its historic conclusion on Friday evening as the Orion spacecraft re-entered Earth's atmosphere at Mach 33 before parachuting into the Pacific.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen were successfully retrieved by U.S. Navy divers and hoisted to the USS John P. Murtha for medical evaluation.

This 10-day flight around the far side of the moon serves as a critical validation of deep-space systems required for upcoming lunar surface landings.

NASA officials hailed the mission as a 'picture perfect' success that provides significant momentum for the agency's long-term goal of establishing a permanent lunar base.