The Orion spacecraft carrying the crew of the Artemis II mission successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday, April 11, after a 10-day journey around the moon, CNN reported.
The splashdown marks a major milestone for NASA, as it was the first crewed flight to the vicinity of the moon since the conclusion of the Apollo program in 1972. The mission commander, Reid Wiseman, confirmed the crew was in good condition shortly after hitting the water.
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“What a journey. We are stable. Four green crewmembers,” Wiseman reported, signaling that all four astronauts – including Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen – felt well after their high-stakes voyage.
The recovery process, coordinated by NASA Landing and Recovery Director Liliana Villarreal, involves extracting the astronauts from the capsule onto an inflatable raft known as the “front porch.” From there, they are airlifted by helicopter to the medical bay of the USS John P. Murtha. NASA flight director Jeff Radigan noted that the extraction typically takes between 30 to 45 minutes under calm sea conditions.
