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Artemis II Astronauts Splash Down Safely After Moon Mission

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen returned to Earth on Friday. Here's everything that happened.

Katelyn Chedraoui

David Lumb

Jon Reed

Jon Skillings

Gael Cooper

Lori Grunin

Patrick Holland

Corinne Reichert

Jeff Carlson

April 10, 2026 7:29 p.m. PT

The Integrity astronauts walked across the flight deck of the USS John P. Murtha after exiting the helicopters that had airlifted them from the Pacific Ocean. Their next stop is the ship's medical bay for a checkup after their 10 days in space.

All four Artmeis II astronauts are safe and sound after a splashdown landing in the Pacific Ocean. The crew was airlifted from a raft to the USS John P. Murtha.

The four Artemis II astronauts are back on Earth, and if social media is any indication, their fellow planet dwellers are thrilled.

"Watched splashdown with my son and for a very brief moment had hope for humanity," wrote Jer Thorp on BlueSky.

An X user shared the classic shot of Finding Nemo's escaped Tank Gang bobbing in little plastic bags, labeling it, "Our good friends in space waiting to be picked up after splashdown."

For some reason, many Earth cats seemed to enjoy watching the watery splashdown.

"Nicky watched the Artemis II #splashdown," wrote Mary Jo Richards on Bluesky, including a photo of her cat intently following the TV coverage. "She watched it so closely, in fact, that I didn't get to see the actual contact with water. Thanks, Nicky."

Famous folks watched as well. The New York Mets shared a video of fans applauding the splashdown airing on the giant video display at Citi Field. 

And Apple CEO Tim Cook congratulated the crew on X -- noting that an Apple product was along for the ride, and neatly shoehorning a company slogan, "think different," into his post.

"Congratulations to Artemis II on a successful mission!" Cook wrote. "You captured the wonders of space and our planet beautifully, taking iPhone photography to new heights, and we're grateful you shared it with the world. Your work continues to inspire us all to think different. Welcome home!"

The Artemis II astronauts are being airlifted one at a time from a raft called the front porch.

The four people in the image above wearing orange flight suits in the raft, are the Artemis II astronauts. The entire crew is officially out of the Integrity for the first time since Wednesday, April. 1.

The Artemis II astronauts are exiting the Integrity capsule. The US Navy and a recovery team are extracting the crew from the vehicle and helping them onto a special raft called the front porch. From here, each astronaut will be airlifted to a helicopter.

A raft connected to the Integrity, called the front porch, has been inflated. US Navy divers erected the front porch, which allows the Artemis II astronauts to acclimate to Earth's gravity and the open ocean. 

For the first time in over nine days, the Integrity capsule's side hatch is open. US Navy divers are entering the cabin to access each Artemis II astronaut before having them exit the capsule.

After traveling beyond the far side of the moon, sharing live video over direct laser communications to Earth, one of the first things the crew of Integrity experienced after splashdown was... phone troubles. "No joy on SAR radio or Sat phone," said one of the crew members when coordinating with the recovery teams.

"For SAT phone, we are going to attempt to call you," said Mission Control while the crew explained they were rebooting comms by holding down a sequence of buttons.

Welcome back to the Earth that most of us deal with every day!

Integrity is powered down to prepare for recovery in the Pacific Ocean.

The Integrity capsule has splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.

The Integrity capsule's parachutes are open, and will slow the craft to around 19 mph and eventually to zero as it lands in the Pacific Ocean.

Here is a visualization NASA shared of the Integrity capsule reentering the Earth's atmosphere and the plasma forming around the capsule.

As planned, the Integrity capsule has entered its 6-minute communications blackout after entering the Earth's atmosphere. During this time, there is no communication or data coming from the capsule.

In another significant step toward splashdown, the Orion capsule has separated from the service module.

If you're in Southern California and close enough to the splashdown, you might actually hear a sonic boom as the spacecraft re-enters Earth's atmosphere.

"The sonic boom is expected at ~5-5:15 pm Pacific time today, April 10," the U.S. Geological Survey said on social media.

If you do hear it, the USGS wants to know. 

"Share your experience using our Did You Feel It survey so we can understand the spatial extent of the boom," the agency said on X.

The astronauts on the Artemis II mission will be taking anti-nausea medication to cope with the speeds of their rapid descent back to Earth, which should hit a peak of around 24,661.21 miles per hour at 7:53 p.m. ET / 4:54 p.m. PT.

For their transition back to 1G -- the gravity on Earth -- they're also taking anti-inflammatory medicine. This will be the first time since 1972 that astronauts are landing in water, and with a landing in the choppy Pacific Ocean (a few miles off the coast of San Diego), the anti-nausea medication will also help with the new surface.

The crew will all receive full medicals right after splashdown.

The Integrity shuttle is now just 14,000 nautical miles from Earth, with splashdown happening in less than two hours. Earth appears as a half circle on the livestream and still looks very far away.

The next big event will be separation from the service module, which will be ejected at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT), ahead of reentry at 7:57 p.m. ET (4:57 p.m. PT).

NASA's Flight Dynamics team anticipates that the Orion capsule will reach a peak speed of 24,661.21 mph (around Mach 33) at 7:54 p.m. ET. The actual speed will be confirmed after reentry, but if the estimate is correct, it would mean that Artemis II would fall 130 mph short of the record set in 1969 by the Apollo 10 crew's return.

We are getting to see some truly stunning views as the Orion spacecraft gets closer to Earth. The Artemis II's splashdown is expected to be at 5:07 p.m. PT (8:07 p.m. ET).

NASA just posted on X that the Orion spacecraft is under 35,000 miles from Earth. The post notes that the weather looks good for splashdown.

Enlarge Image

What do you do if you're in a spacecraft on a 10-day mission to the moon and back? You take a selfie (or it didn't happen). NASA shared several images from a camera on the Orion's solar array wing, showing the Artemis II crew through the capsule's windows. You gotta look closely, but they're there. And it's so delightful when you find them.

We've talked a lot this week about the beautiful photos the Artemis II crew captured on the newest iPhones, but did you know this is not the first time Apple products have been used in outer space?

Apple products have long been relied on by astronauts and NASA -- the first email sent from space was sent on a Mac. Space technology isn't just rocket science; it's the devices, software and accessories that many of us use down here on Earth.

CNET's Apple expert Bridget Carey walks us through the long history of Apple products used in space flight. You can watch the video above and on CNET's YouTube channel.

Today, the Artemis II astronauts come home. They will be splashing down just off the coast of California near San Diego at around 5:07 p.m. PT (8:07 p.m. ET) after reentering the atmosphere 2,000 miles out over the Pacific Ocean southeast of Hawaii. Here's the sequence of events that NASA has laid out:

At around 4:33 p.m. PT, the Orion capsule will separate from its service module, and 4 minutes later will make a final trajectory adjustment, followed by "a series of roll maneuvers" to get away from the jettisoned equipment. Just before reentering the atmosphere, it will reach its maximum velocity of approximately 23,864 mph.