'Just the beginning': Artemis II crew splashes down after record-breaking moon flyby
Source: The Guardian
The Artemis II, and the four astronauts aboard the Orion space capsule, splashed down into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday night, with all four astronauts in good health.
“53 years ago, humanity left the moon. This time we return to stay. Let us finish what they started. Let us focus on what was left undone. Let us not go to plant flags and leave, but to stay with firmness in our purpose, with gratitude for the hands who built the machines and with love for the ones that we carry with us,” Nasa’s associate administrator Amit Kshatriya said at the late-night press conference after the astronauts landed.
The spacecraft touched down at 5.07pm (1.07am BST) making the journey around the moon and back officially 9 days 1hr and 32min. The Orion spacecraft traveled 694,481 miles (1,117,659km), Nasa said. Despite barely passing a ninth day, it will be recorded officially as a 10-day mission because blast-off day was treated as “flight day one”.
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Collectively, with the mission commander, Wiseman, the four travelled farther from Earth than any human before them, reaching 252,756 miles, more than 4,000 beyond the previous record set by the Apollo 13 crew in April 1970.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/10/artemis-ii-landing-return-moon-mission
The Artemis astronauts have travelled further than any humans have ever flown from Earth. They’ve flown a whopping 252,756 miles (406,771km), exceeding Apollo 13’s distance record by more 4,100 miles (6,600 km).
But they won’t break the record for the fastest re-entry through the Earth’s atmosphere. That’s still held by the Apollo 10 crew, who screamed back to Earth at 24,791mph (39,897km/h).
Nasa calculations put the Artemis crew’s re-entry at 24,661mph (39,688km/h) - just 130mph slower. So it’s not record breaking - but still incredibly fast, more than 30 times the speed of sound.
To put this into perspective, astronauts returning home from the International Space Station come in at speeds of about 17,500mph (28,163kmh).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c3dlnzv5r71t?post=asset%3A8928e8e3-9b89-48dc-b4f9-4ff378fc582d#post
I thought they were going to get the speed record too. But in a way it's nice that Apollo still holds a record.
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APPROACH
ORION CAPSULE SEPARATION
THROUGH THE OUTER ATMOPHERE
FREE FALL
DROGUE CHUTES DEPLOYED
MAIN CHUTES DEPLOYED
SPLASH DOWN
