SAEDNEWS: NASA’s Artemis 2 astronauts have safely returned to Earth after the first crewed flight around the Moon in over 50 years. The Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near California on April 10 at 5:07 p.m. local time following a fiery reentry.
According to the Science and Technology service of Saed News Agency, the four-member crew of NASA’s NASA mission Artemis II has successfully returned to Earth after completing the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than half a century.
The space capsule Orion spacecraft made a dramatic and high-speed reentry into Earth’s atmosphere on Friday, April 10, at 5:07 p.m. local time. After passing through atmospheric layers like a fiery ball, it safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of San Diego, California. All four astronauts are in excellent condition.
The crew consisted of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman (commander), Victor Glover (pilot), Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. They launched about 10 days earlier from Kennedy Space Center aboard the Space Launch System rocket for a 10-day mission into lunar orbit.
During the mission, the astronauts flew beyond the Moon’s far side, set a record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth (over 248,000 miles), and tested critical systems of the Orion spacecraft for future missions—particularly Artemis III, which aims to land humans on the Moon.
NASA officials have described the mission as a crucial and successful step toward the sustained return of humans to the Moon. Images and videos released from Orion’s atmospheric reentry and splashdown have captivated millions of users across social media platforms.
