Four astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, returning home after completing the most ambitious human spaceflight mission in more than half a century. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, touched down in their Orion spacecraft on April 10 after a nearly 10-day journey around the Moon and back, the first time humans had traveled to the Moon’s vicinity since Apollo 17 in 1972. During the mission the crew set a new record for the farthest distance ever traveled by humans in space, reaching 252,756 miles from Earth and surpassing even the record set by Apollo 13 more than five decades ago. Mission Control in Houston erupted in cheers as the crew was pulled from the capsule, healthy and safe.
The mission delivered some of the most breathtaking images of the Moon and Earth that humanity has ever seen, including a stunning solar eclipse photographed from deep space as the Moon completely blocked the Sun for nearly 54 minutes, a view impossible to capture from Earth. The crew observed the far side of the Moon in vivid detail, studied ancient craters billions of years old, and watched the Earth rise and set from a vantage point no human had occupied in a generation. Their spacecraft, which the crew named Integrity, performed as planned throughout the journey, and NASA officials said the mission validated the systems needed to eventually land astronauts back on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972. The crew reunited with their families in Houston the following day, and the moment their capsule was spotted descending toward the ocean under three bright parachutes was one that millions of people watching live will not soon forget.
Source: https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-welcomes-record-setting-artemis-ii-moonfarers-back-to-earth/
