NASA Artemis Moonshot

In this image from video provided by NASA, the Artemis II Orion capsule, right, separates from the service module above the Earth in preparation for splash down in the Pacific Ocean, on Friday, April 10, 2026.

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Artemis II’s record-breaking journey around the moon ends with dramatic splashdown

Artemis II’s record-breaking journey around the moon ends with dramatic splashdown

The first astronauts to visit the moon in more than a half-century are home. Artemis II’s crew of four emerged from their lunar capsule after a splashdown in the Pacific on Friday evening and were flown by helicopter to the Navy’s recovery ship. The three Americans and one Canadian set a distance record for space travel during their lunar flyby, surpassing NASA’s Apollo 13. Artemis II’s astronauts didn’t land on the moon or even orbit it. Instead, they ducked behind the moon’s far side and captured views never before seen by the human eye, along with a total solar eclipse. A finicky toilet seems to have been their biggest problem in space.