The four astronauts of NASA’s Artemis II mission have splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, completing a record-breaking journey to the far side of the Moon.
After a tense six-minute blackout during re-entry, the Orion capsule pierced Earth’s atmosphere at speeds approaching 23,839 mph (38,365 kph).
Nearly a dozen parachutes deployed to slow the 21,000-pound spacecraft to around 20 mph before it touched down off the coast of San Diego.
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Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen spent 10 days in deep space, travelling 252,756 miles from Earth, further than any crew in history.
Their successful return is a great milestone in NASA’s bid to establish a sustainable human presence beyond low-Earth orbit.
The mission tested Orion’s systems under extreme conditions, paving the way for future Artemis flights that aim to land astronauts on the lunar surface and eventually prepare for Mars exploration.