NASA Artemis Moonshot

In this photo provided by NASA, Artemis II crew members Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen are loaded into a raft after successfully splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, April 10, 2026, following their 10-day mission around the Moon.

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Artemis II astronauts praise their moonship's performance, especially the heat shield

Artemis II astronauts praise their moonship's performance, especially the heat shield

The Artemis II astronauts who ignited a lunar renaissance are giving high marks to their moonship for its performance during reentry — especially the heat shield. They held their first news conference Thursday since returning to Earth. Speaking from Houston, the three Americans and one Canadian said their lunar flyby puts NASA in a better position to land a crew on the moon in just two years and set up an eventual moon base. The first lunar crew in more than a half-century launched April 1 and became the most distant travelers ever from Earth as they whipped around the moon's far side.