Artemis II’s four astronauts were winched from an inflatable raft in the Pacific by helicopter after their capsule splashed down and then flown to a recovery ship for medical checks and onward transport.
The crew — Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman — were recovered from the spacecraft’s so-called “front porch” inflatable raft and lifted one at a time into waiting helicopters. They were flown to the USS John Murtha, where medical teams performed evaluations before the astronauts were scheduled to be moved to San Diego and then Houston to reunite with family.
The recovery concluded a nine-day mission that carried the crew roughly 252,000 miles to the Moon and back. During the flight they looped around the Moon, transmitted images and collected a substantial body of scientific observations and photography. Crew members said they kept journals during the trip to record the experience; reporters noted the astronauts will continue processing what they saw and did for some time.
Reporters described the helicopter hoist as a triumphant final step in a long deep-space outing: astronauts were fitted with harnesses, raised from the inflatable “front porch” in a planned sequence and flown to the recovery ship. Recovery procedures include repeated medical checks to monitor how the crew readjusts to Earth gravity after an extended period in deep space.
NASA and recovery personnel followed established protocols to safeguard the crew during the ocean recovery and transfer. Officials and astronauts framed the mission’s safe return — along with its large haul of observations and imagery — as an important milestone for future deep-space missions and as an inspiring moment for ongoing lunar and Mars ambitions.