HOUSTON — Artemis II's astronauts closed out humanity's first lunar voyage in more than half a century with a Pacific splashdown Friday, blazing new records near the moon with grace and joy.
AP Special Report
Artemis II astronauts return to Earth with a splash, close record-breaking moon voyage
1 of 10
The Artemis II crew, counterclockwise from top left, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman and Pilot Victor Glover pose with eclipse viewers Monday during a lunar flyby.
A bright portion of the moon is photographed Monday by the Artemis II crew.
Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover is photographed in the Orion spacecraft Monday during the Artemis II lunar flyby.
The Artemis II Orion capsule splashes down Friday in the Pacific Ocean.
The Artemis II Orion capsule, right, separates from the service module Friday above the Earth in preparation for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Matthew Trees, left, an experimental flight test engineer who worked on the space launch system for Artemis I, his girlfriend Katherin Rohlfing, center, and friend Jordan Stringfield, who is also an experimental flight engineer, celebrate Friday as Orion returns to Earth during an Artemis II splashdown viewing party at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.
From left, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Christina Koch, mission specialist; Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist, and and NASA astronaut Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, right, pose for a group photo Saturday after viewing the Orion spacecraft in the well deck of USS John P. Murtha in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
In this photo provided by NASA, a helicopter lifts up an astronaut from Artemis II after splashdown Friday in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
NASA's Orion spacecraft is seen Saturday as the agency's Landing and Recovery team and U.S. Navy personnel work to recover the spacecraft in the well deck of USS John P. Murtha in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.
Artemis II astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch are photographed Friday on the flight deck of USS John P. Murtha after they were extracted from their Orion spacecraft following splashdown.
Time to look up stargazers. There's another comet coming our way.
Watch live as Artemis II astronauts return to Earth after their record-breaking moon flyby. The crew will splash down in the Pacific Ocean off…
The nation's top cartoonists celebrate the Artemis II mission to the moon.Â
Artemis II is the opening shot of NASA's grand plans for a permanent moon base.
Artemis II breaks Apollo 13’s distance record as humans travel farther from Earth than ever before
It’s official. Artemis II has broken Apollo 13’s distance record. The three Americans and one Canadian on Monday journeyed farther from Earth …
Another photo captures the total solar eclipse that occurred when the moon blocked the sun from the crew's perspective.
The crew took a poignant page from Apollo 8, proposing deeply personal names for a pair of moon craters.
