NASA Completes Historic Moon Voyage With Vow of ‘More to Come’

April 11, 2026, 3:50 AM UTC

NASA’s Artemis crew of four astronauts returned to Earth and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, capping humanity’s first return to the moon in more than 50 years.

The Lockheed Martin Corp.-built Orion crew capsule carrying the Artemis II crew completed a fiery plunge through the planet’s atmosphere, before touching down under parachutes off the coast of California just after 5 p.m. local time. NASA said the crew was in good health.

“A perfect bullseye splashdown for Integrity,” said Rob Navias, public affairs officer of mission operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

“From the ...

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