Four astronauts from NASA’s Artemis-2 lunar mission safely returned to Earth, landing in the Pacific Ocean near the coast of California on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 6:07 a.m. local time. The Orion spacecraft, carrying U.S. astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, completed its re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere before splashdown. U.S. Navy ships and divers participated in the recovery operation to secure the spacecraft and bring the crew aboard a naval vessel for medical checks.

The 10-day mission began on April 1, marking a major milestone in NASA’s renewed lunar exploration program. During the mission, the crew traveled as far as 252,757 miles from Earth while orbiting the far side of the Moon, surpassing the distance record set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. After initial health assessments, the astronauts will return to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The successful completion of Artemis-2 reinforces NASA’s progress toward future lunar and deep-space missions under the Artemis program.