The historic Artemis 2 mission concluded successfully today as NASA's Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 5:07 p.m. PT. This mission marked the first crewed journey around the moon since 1972, with the spacecraft covering a total distance of 700,237 miles since its launch on April 1.
Commanded by Reid Wiseman, the crew included pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. Koch made history as the first woman to travel beyond Earth orbit, while Glover became the first Black astronaut to do so, and Hansen the first non-U.S. astronaut on this journey. During their ten-day mission, they traveled more than 4,000 miles past the moon’s far side.
This flight served to validate the Artemis program's hardware in preparation for future lunar missions, including sending astronauts to the lunar surface by 2028 and establishing a permanent base by the 2030s. The spacecraft's components, developed by companies in Washington, performed reliably, ensuring a safe return.
NASA's Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya emphasized the mission's significance for both its historical context and its implications for the agency's future endeavors in space exploration.