Artemis II astronauts stick the landing: Crew returns safely to Earth

The crew of Artemis II safely made their return Friday evening from their trip around the moon with a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

Tensions rose as the Orion spacecraft tore through Earth’s atmosphere, enduring the heat of reentry and a communications loss before stabilizing for its final touchdown sequence.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen splashed down in the ocean just off the coast of San Diego shortly after 8 p.m. ET.

The crew returned to Earth travelling at Mach 33, roughly 33 times the speed of sound. This rate of travel has not been seen since NASA’s Apollo missions in the 1960s and ‘70s.

Awaiting the arrival of the lunar alumni was the recovery ship USS John P. Murtha, along with supporting military planes and helicopters.

Once safely secured by the military, the crew underwent medical checks on the ship before being flown to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Canadian astronaut Hansen and his American crewmates’ homecoming marks the end of a historic lunar voyage – the first human trip to the moon in more than half a century and the farthest human spaceflight.

Launching from Florida April 1, the 10-day mission saw the Artemis II astronauts take a six-hour flyby around the moon – giving humans a closer view of the lunar surface for the first time in decades.

This mission is the first major leap in establishing a long-term moon base which would serve as humanity’s initial stepping stone into the cosmos.

With files from The Canadian Press

WATCH MORE: Artemis II crew returns to Earth after 10-day record-breaking lunar mission