After a 10-day mission around the Moon, the Artemis II astronauts will have traveled nearly 700,000 miles
By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron
A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman from the Orion spacecraft on April 2, 2026.
NASA
NASA launched four astronauts on a pioneering journey around the Moon: the Artemis II assignment. Follow our coverage here.
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THE Artemis II the crew returns home. The four astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft are ready to splash Friday evening off the coast of San Diego, California, capping a nearly 10-day stretch 700,000 miles journey around the moon and back.
So far, everything is going according to plan: On Thursday, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen reviewed return procedures, spoke with flight director Rick Henfling and packed the spacecraft for splashdown.
The spacecraft also completed the second of three planned engine burns to keep it on the correct return trajectory to enter Earth’s atmosphere. A final burn is planned for Friday afternoon.
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All systems were “ready to go” for re-entry, Artemis II » said Branelle Rodriguez, manager of the Orion vehicle, during a press conference on Thursday.
Friday morning at 8:50 a.m. EDT, the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, was located less than 75,000 miles from home and traveling at more than 4,700 miles per hour.
NASA anticipates that the crew enter the earth’s atmosphere at just under 25,000 mph and eventually slowing to less than 20 mph as they plunge into the Pacific Ocean around 8:07 p.m. EDT.
Despite concerns about the heat shield, which suffered unexpected damage during Artemis I’s reentry in 2022, leading to a subsequent investigation, NASA is confident about the Artemis II the return of the crew to Earth.
“Every system we’ve demonstrated over the last nine days (life support systems, navigation, propulsion, communications) depends on the last minutes of flight,” NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya said during Thursday’s press conference. “We have great confidence in the system, the heat shield, the parachutes and the recovery systems that we have in place.”
“The engineering supports it. The Artemis I flight data supports it. All of our ground tests support it. Our analysis supports it. And tomorrow the crew is going to dedicate their lives to that trust,” Kshatriya said.
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