Returning at 24,000 mph: The Fiery Descent

NASA's Artemis 2 crew of four astronauts successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10, completing a landmark 10-day mission to the vicinity of the moon. The Orion capsule touched down at approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT off the coast of California, bringing humanity's first crewed lunar voyage since 1972 to a successful close.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen re-entered Earth's atmosphere at speeds of up to 24,000 mph (38,600 kph). During the roughly 13-minute descent, the Orion capsule's exterior endured temperatures reaching 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,760 degrees Celsius).

Heat Shield, Parachutes, and Recovery

A heat shield protected the crew through the intense re-entry heat, while parachutes deployed in sequence to slow the capsule before splashdown. The USS John Murtha was on site to recover the astronauts and escort them back to shore.

The landing zone was near the same area off the California coast where the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission splashed down in December 2022, reinforcing the region as NASA's primary recovery corridor.

The First Crewed Lunar Mission Since Apollo

Artemis 2 marks the first time astronauts have traveled near the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972 — a gap of more than five decades. Building on the unmanned Artemis 1 flight, this mission served as the first crewed validation test of the Orion spacecraft, a critical milestone on the path toward lunar surface landings.

NASA livestreamed the entire return sequence across Netflix, Amazon Prime, its NASA+ streaming service, and YouTube, reflecting its push to broaden public engagement with the Artemis program.