Artemis II astronauts splashdown after first moon mission in more than 50 years

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WATCH LIVE: Artemis II crew to splash down in the Pacific Ocean after historic lunar flyby

NASA and U.S. Navy teams wait off the California coast. The Orion capsule will hit the atmosphere at 25,000 mph. Parachutes will slow the craft for an 8:07 p.m. ET splashdown. This mission marks the first human lunar return in over fifty years.

The four Artemis II astronauts splashed down off the coast of San Diego Friday evening following a 10-day mission that marked the first manned moon mission in more than 50 years at 5:07 Pacific Time.

The crew launched from the Kennedy Space Center on April 1 and traveled around the moon, 252,000 miles from Earth, flying farther from Earth than any previous mission.

After NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman landed on the USS John P. Murtha ahead of the splashdown, he shared a massage for those helping with the recovery of the astronauts.

"I have no doubt that you're all going to execute this flawlessly as we get these astronauts who will just complete an absolute historic mission, traveling further into space than any humans have gone before," he said.

ARTEMIS II NEARS END OF HISTORIC MISSION WITH SPLASHDOWN OFF CALIFORNIA COAST

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is greeted by Capt. Erik Kenny, commanding officer of USS John P. Murtha, as NASA and U.S. military teams prepare for the Artemis II crew's return to Earth in the Pacific Ocean off California on April 10, 2026. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)

"For the first time, we've gone into the lunar environment in more than half a century," he added. "We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon again."

Isaacman added that once Artemis III launches in 2028 for the first moon landing in decades, NASA plans to stay and build a moon base.

ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS SHOW OFF APOLLO 18 FLAG FROM SPACE

After being helped out the Orion crew module, the four astronauts: Commander Reid Weisman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen were taken aboard the USS John P. Murtha for medical evaluation following the mission.

U.S. Navy divers prepare to deploy from USS John P. Murtha to recover Artemis II crewmembers and NASA's Orion spacecraft in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California on April 10, 2026. (Bill Ingalls/NASA)

The Orion spacecraft reentered the Earth’s atmosphere Friday at around 25,000 mph, slowing to about 20 mph using an 11-parachute sequence before landing in the ocean about 60 miles off the coast at 5:07 p.m. local time.

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Earth sets at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, over the Moon’s curved limb in this photo captured by the Artemis II crew during their journey around the far side of the Moon. (NASA)

During its reentry, the temperatures outside of the spacecraft got as high as 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Astronauts last went to the moon in December 1972 for the Apollo 17 mission, three years after humans first landed on the moon in the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.