naiwa 2026-04-11

The Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, completing the first crewed journey beyond low Earth orbit since 1972.



NASA reported the successful return of the Artemis II mission crew, which orbited the Moon and marked an important step in preparations for a future human landing on the Earth’s satellite. The flight lasted nearly ten days, and the crew capsule splashed down on April 11 in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, at approximately 03:07 Moscow time; U.S. armed forces units assisted in the crew’s evacuation.


There were four people on board: commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, as well as specialists Christina Koch (NASA) and Jeremy Hansen (CSA). The main task of Artemis II was to test the systems and equipment of the Orion spacecraft ahead of the planned lunar landing in 2028; this is the first time since December 1972 that humans have traveled beyond low Earth orbit. During the mission, the astronauts took a series of photographs of the Earth and Moon and set a new distance record — the maximum distance from the planet was 406,778 km, surpassing the Apollo 13 achievement (400,171 km).