The Orion capsule carrying the four Artemis II astronauts made a Pacific Ocean splashdown off the coast of San Diego at 8:07 p.m. ET, concluding a historic roughly 10‑day lunar loop. Mission Control described the landing, about 40 to 50 miles offshore, as “a perfect bullseye splashdown.”
Orion endured a planned six‑minute communications blackout during peak heating on reentry. The capsule reached a peak speed of about 24,661 mph and the crew reported experiencing roughly 3.9 Gs. Temperatures across the heat shield climbed to near 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit; NASA said it has “high confidence” in the heat shield, parachutes and recovery systems after changes made following the Artemis I flight.
The parachute sequence began near 50,000 feet with pilot chutes and progressed to three main 116‑foot parachutes inflating around 6,000 feet to slow Orion for a gentle ocean touchdown. As planned, the crew module separated from its service module before reentry and communications were handed off from the Deep Space Network to the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System.
After splashdown, recovery teams reached the bobbing capsule. Divers fitted an inflatable collar and set a “front porch” raft beneath Orion’s side hatch. The four astronauts emerged about 90 minutes after splashdown, exiting one at a time onto the raft; a shipboard medical officer reported they were “feeling great, happy to be home.”
Navy divers and recovery personnel hoisted the crew into helicopters and transported them to the flight deck of USS John P. Murtha, nearby. The ship’s well deck will cradle Orion; the spacecraft is scheduled to be returned to Naval Base San Diego and later taken back to Kennedy Space Center for inspection and data retrieval. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman met the crew aboard the recovery ship and observed the astronauts, with minimal assistance, walk to the ship’s medical bay.
NASA leaders praised the mission. Exploration Ground Systems program manager Shawn Quinn called the return “an incredible end to an incredible mission,” and Orion program manager Howard Hu said the agency will analyze the returned data and “move forward” into a new era of exploration. Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya thanked the astronauts’ families for their courage during the blackout. Dr. Lori Glaze described Artemis II as “our first mission to the moon of many more to come.”
President Trump posted congratulations to the crew on social media, saying he watched the splashdown on television while at a fundraiser and looks forward to welcoming them to the White House.
During recovery, teams briefly worked through a communications issue between the recovery ship and Orion that delayed a planned power‑down of nonessential systems. Communications were restored and the crew module was powered down so safe extraction could proceed. Recovery procedures also included sweeps for hazardous fumes such as hydrazine and the deployment of a sea anchor to stabilize the capsule.
The astronauts returned with a range of mission highlights: striking photos from the moon’s far side, including an “Earthset” image and a solar eclipse visible only from orbit; personal moments such as naming a lunar crater “Carroll” in honor of Commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife; and lighter touches like “Rise,” the mission’s zero‑gravity indicator plush designed by an 8‑year‑old, which appeared in floating cabin photos and videos.
Artemis II set a new record for the farthest distance humans have traveled from Earth, reaching about 252,756 miles during the far‑side flyby and surpassing Apollo 13’s 1970 record. By mission end the crew had logged roughly 694,481 miles over an expected duration of about 9 days, 1 hour and 31 minutes.
On the trip home the astronauts used phones to capture final images of Earth from tens of thousands of miles away and prepared for reentry in their orange Orion Crew Survival System suits. NASA provided a real‑time timeline of reentry events: crew module raise burn and heat shield alignment, communications blackout beginning around 7:53 p.m. ET, drogue parachute deployment near 22,000 feet, main chute deployment near 6,000 feet, and splashdown at 8:07 p.m. ET.
Once aboard USS John P. Murtha the crew underwent medical checks and were expected to be transported to Naval Base San Diego and ultimately flown back to Kennedy Space Center. Mission teams will analyze spacecraft systems and recover scientific and engineering data. NASA officials said the mission’s success and the data returned will inform future Artemis missions as the agency advances toward returning humans to the lunar surface and beyond.