The Orion capsule carrying the Artemis II astronauts has successfully splashed down off the coast of San Diego at 8:07PM Eastern time on April 10. It signals the conclusion of Artemis II's 10-day journey around the moon, which is meant to be a test flight for a future mission that would bring humanity back to the lunar surface. The Orion crew module carrying the mission's astronauts separated from the service module at 7:33 PM. While the service module was designed to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, the crew capsule was built to bring the astronauts back home safely. By 7:53 PM, Orion reached our planet's upper atmosphere, where a six-minute communication blackout occurred due to the capsule heating up as it started its guided descent. The capsule has 11 parachutes, with its drogue parachutes being deployed at 23,400 feet to stabilize and slow it down. When Orion reached 5,400 feet above the ground, the drogue parachutes were cut off so that the three main parachutes could be deployed. That decreased the capsule's velocity to 200 feet per second, enabling a safe splashdown. NASA's engineers conducted several tests while the capsule was in the water before the recovery team headed to the capsule on inflatable boats to extract the crew from Orion. By 9:34 PM, all four crew members were out of the capsule. They were then hoisted into helicopters and flown to the USS John P. Murtha dock ship, where doctors will assess their health. Artemis II launched on April 1 with four astronauts on board: NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen. They traveled around the moon for almost 10 days, reaching distances no other crewed mission has before it. The astronauts took photos of the far side of the moon , the side we don't see from our planet, including amazing closeups of the lunar surface using their smartphones. That makes them the first humans to directly and personally view the lunar far side. During NASA's post-splashdown news conference, the agency said it will announce the Artemis III crew soon. Artemis III will rendezvous with one or both commercial landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin in low Earth orbit, which will take humans to the lunar surface. It will test the lander's ability to dock with Orion before NASA lands humans on the moon again. Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! 🫶 The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end. pic.twitter.com/1yjAgHEOYl - NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026 This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-artemis-ii-astronauts-are-back-after-a-10-day-journey-around-the-moon-033800654.html?src=rss
7 Stunning Moon Pictures Captured During NASA Artemis II Mission
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NASA's 10-day Artemis program continues to deliver stunning images of the moon. The crew have been actively taking pictures and studying the moon's surface. Here are some beautiful images of the moon taken by the crew members of NASA during the Artemis II programme.
NASA's 10-day Artemis program continues to deliver stunning images of the moon. The crew have been actively taking pictures and studying the moon's surface. Here are some beautiful images of the moon taken by the crew members of NASA during the Artemis II programme.
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Multiple trusted reports are pointing to the same directional technology shift, suggesting the market should read this as a category signal rather than isolated headline activity.
Multiple trusted reports are pointing to the same directional technology shift, suggesting the market should read this as a category signal rather than isolated headline activity.
Multiple trusted reports are pointing to the same directional technology shift, suggesting the market should read this as a category signal rather than isolated headline activity.
Multiple trusted reports are pointing to the same directional technology shift, suggesting the market should read this as a category signal rather than isolated headline activity.
Multiple trusted reports are pointing to the same directional technology shift, suggesting the market should read this as a category signal rather than isolated headline activity.
Multiple trusted reports are pointing to the same directional technology shift, suggesting the market should read this as a category signal rather than isolated headline activity.
Multiple trusted reports are pointing to the same directional technology shift, suggesting the market should read this as a category signal rather than isolated headline activity.
Multiple trusted reports are pointing to the same directional technology shift, suggesting the market should read this as a category signal rather than isolated headline activity.
The success of Artemis II confirms NASA's commitment to lunar exploration and strengthens the case for continued investment in space technologies and associated commercial opportunities.
Multiple trusted reports are pointing to the same directional technology shift, suggesting the market should read this as a category signal rather than isolated headline activity.
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Entire space programs have been canceled after a failure in the reentry phase. In the final test for Artemis II, astronauts will travel at 32 times the speed of sound as they return from the moon.
The Artemis II has provided iconic images throughout its moon fly-by mission, using a string of surprising cameras
The Orion capsule carrying the Artemis II astronauts has successfully splashed down off the coast of San Diego at 8:07PM Eastern time on April 10. It signals the conclusion of Artemis II's 10-day journey around the moon, which is meant to be a test flight for a future mission that would bring humanity back to the lunar surface. The Orion crew module carrying the mission's astronauts separated from the service module at 7:33 PM. While the service module was designed to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, the crew capsule was built to bring the astronauts back home safely. By 7:53 PM, Orion reached our planet's upper atmosphere, where a six-minute communication blackout occurred due to the capsule heating up as it started its guided descent. The capsule has 11 parachutes, with its drogue parachutes being deployed at 23,400 feet to stabilize and slow it down. When Orion reached 5,400 feet above the ground, the drogue parachutes were cut off so that the three main parachutes could be deployed. That decreased the capsule's velocity to 200 feet per second, enabling a safe splashdown. NASA's engineers conducted several tests while the capsule was in the water before the recovery team headed to the capsule on inflatable boats to extract the crew from Orion. By 9:34 PM, all four crew members were out of the capsule. They were then hoisted into helicopters and flown to the USS John P. Murtha dock ship, where doctors will assess their health. Artemis II launched on April 1 with four astronauts on board: NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen. They traveled around the moon for almost 10 days, reaching distances no other crewed mission has before it. The astronauts took photos of the far side of the moon , the side we don't see from our planet, including amazing closeups of the lunar surface using their smartphones. That makes them the first humans to directly and personally view the lunar far side. During NASA's post-splashdown news conference, the agency said it will announce the Artemis III crew soon. Artemis III will rendezvous with one or both commercial landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin in low Earth orbit, which will take humans to the lunar surface. It will test the lander's ability to dock with Orion before NASA lands humans on the moon again. Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! 🫶 The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end. pic.twitter.com/1yjAgHEOYl - NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026 This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/the-artemis-ii-astronauts-are-back-after-a-10-day-journey-around-the-moon-033800654.html?src=rss
