The Orion spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, made a parachute-assisted landing as recovery teams moved in to retrieve the crew, NASA said in official updates

“SPLASHDOWN!” NASA said, confirming the crew was “back on Earth” after completing the mission

“What a journey,” Wiseman said moments after landing during a livestream. “We are stable one. Four green crewmembers”

The mission marked the first crewed test flight of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket, sending astronauts beyond low Earth orbit, around the Moon and back

The crew completed a nearly 10-day mission and splashed down off the California coast, marking the first human journey near the Moon in over 50 years

The flight also marked several milestones: Glover became the first Black astronaut to reach the Moon’s vicinity, Koch the first woman, and Hansen the first Canadian

During the mission, the astronauts travelled as far as 252,756 miles from Earth, breaking the previous distance record set during the Apollo 13 mission, and observed the Moon’s far side and multiple lunar surface targets, including ancient basins and craters

Re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere was one of the most demanding phases. The spacecraft travelled at about 25,000 miles per hour and endured temperatures approaching 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit as superheated plasma built up around the capsule

Artemis II is a key step in NASA’s broader lunar programme, which aims to return humans to the Moon and establish a sustained presence there. The next mission, Artemis III, is expected to test docking capabilities and pave the way for a crewed landing on the lunar surface later this decade.