Artemis II Splashdown and Return

NASA's Orion spacecraft carried Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, along with Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency), and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, California, at 5:07 p.m. PDT, (8:07 p.m. EDT) on Friday, April 10, 2026. The Artemis II test flight launched on Wednesday, April 1, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin its 10-day journey around the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build on our foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars. NASA’s Landing and Recovery team and the U.S. military coordinated efforts to extract the Artemis II crew from the Orion spacecraft.