Artemis II splashdown: NASA successfully completes first crewed Lunar mission in 54 years

NEW YORK: The Artemis 2 crew has made history by returning safely to Earth. The Orion spacecraft, which successfully orbited the Moon, re-entered Earth's atmosphere at 5:07 AM IST, followed by a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 5:37 AM IST. This mission marks the first time in over 50 years that humans have witnessed the lunar far side in person. During its journey behind the Moon, the crew experienced a planned communication blackout with Earth that lasted approximately 40 minutes.

The four-member crew has set a new milestone for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth. They surpassed the long-standing record held by the Apollo 13 crew, who reached a distance of 400,171 km in 1970. The Orion spacecraft reached its maximum distance—a new human record—of approximately 400,000 to 405,000 km from Earth.

Artemis 2 is the first crewed mission to the lunar vicinity since Apollo 17 in 1972. Unlike the Apollo 17 mission, which involved a lunar landing, the Artemis 2 mission was a lunar flyby, with the Orion spacecraft returning to Earth after a 10-day journey.

This success follows the unmanned Artemis 1 mission completed in late 2022. With Artemis 2 now concluded, NASA remains focused on its goal of landing humans on the Moon before China. Current mission profiles aim for a crewed lunar landing during Artemis 3, with subsequent missions like Artemis 4 focusing on the development of the Lunar Gateway station.