Astronauts Return from Moon Trip
Sunday, 2026/04/12156 words2 minutes747 reads
Four astronauts have returned safely to Earth after completing NASA's Artemis II mission around the Moon. The crew spent nine days in space and traveled further from Earth than any humans in history.
Their Orion spacecraft was traveling at more than 24,000 miles per hour when it entered Earth's atmosphere. The heatshield experienced temperatures half as hot as the surface of the Sun. During the descent, the capsule lost contact with mission control for six minutes due to the extreme heat.
The spacecraft, named Integrity by the crew, splashed down perfectly in the Pacific Ocean. The four astronauts—Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—were extracted from the capsule and taken by helicopter to a waiting ship. They are healthy and will return to Houston to reunite with their families. This successful mission clears the way for future Artemis missions that aim to land humans on the Moon again.
