NASA's Artemis II astronauts send first messages and display surprising ability after moon mission
NASA's Artemis II crew has successfully splashed down after their historic Moon mission, as the Orion spacecraft made a fiery plunge through Earth's atmosphere Friday night.The spacecraft reached blistering speeds of up to 25,000 miles per hour before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California.The four-person crew, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, wrapped up a ten-day mission that carried them around the moon and farther than any human had ever traveled into space before.The journey marked the first time in more than 50 years that humans have traveled this far into space and viewed the lunar surface with the naked eye since the Apollo era.During the mission, the astronauts also passed behind the moon, flying over the mysterious far side, often referred to as the moon's dark side because it permanently faces away from Earth. The historic flight also shattered a decades-old distance record set during Apollo 13 in 1970, when astronauts traveled 248,655 miles from Earth.Artemis II surpassed that milestone by thousands of miles, setting a new distance record for human spaceflight.NASA turns to Artemis III as historic moon mission comes to an endNASA leaders recall best moments'Most important human space exploration mission in decades' NASA leader recalls emotional reason why he loves space travelNASA leaders reveal when they finally felt relief Flight crew is 'happy and healthy' 'What a truly spectacular mission it was' NASA leaders address the pressAstronauts send first messages and display surprising ability after moon missionArtemis II airlifted from Pacific Ocean as moon mission officially endsArtemis II crew emerges from spacecraft for first time after splashdown
Share or comment on this article:
NASA's Artemis II astronauts send first messages and display surprising ability after moon mission
