The four Artemis II astronauts have successfully re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and have splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, ending their 10-day mission around the moon.
20:32 ET, 10 Apr 2026Updated 21:46 ET, 10 Apr 2026
Fans gathered on X to watch the splashdown as the astronauts hit the Pacific
President Trump has apparently demanded a TV be “wheeled in” to the winery where the President is entertaining guests, so he can watch the Artemis II astronauts “splash down.”
The White House press pool announced, “A White House official shares with the pool that President Trump watched the splashdown of Artemis II. A TV was wheeled into the room for the president and his MAGA Inc. guests at Trump Winery.”
Artemis II’s astronauts returned from the moon with a dramatic splashdown in the Pacific on Friday to close out humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than a half-century.
READ MORE: Artemis II astronauts recreate iconic Earthrise photo during historic lunar flybyREAD MORE: Excruciating 60 seconds of awkward silence after Trump rants at Artemis II astronauts
The Artemis II astronauts have successfully splashed down in a dramatic Pacific Ocean landing, aboard the self-piloting Orion capsule named Integrity, as fans gathered on X to watch the touchdown.
NASA posted on X, “Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end.”
President Trump asked for a TV at the winery to see the astronauts land
All attention was focused on the capsule’s life-saving heat shield, which must endure temperatures of thousands of degrees during reentry. Impressed X users commented, “That was a picture perfect splashdown! Congratulations team!” Another added, “his isn’t the first contact with water; it’s the first contact with history. You’ve truly accomplished something extraordinary.”
All attention was focused on the capsule’s life-saving heat shield
During the spacecraft’s sole previous test flight in 2022, which carried no crew, the shield’s scorched surface returned looking as cratered as the lunar surface.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen pierced Earth’s atmosphere at Mach 32 – or 32 times the speed of sound – in a blazing descent not witnessed since NASA’s legendary Apollo moon missions of the 1960s and 1970s.
Grabs show the operation as the automated aircraft lands in the Pacific
Like countless others, lead flight director Jeff Radigan expected to experience some of that “irrational fear that is human nature,” particularly during the six-minute communications blackout prior to parachute deployment.
Recovery vessel USS John P. Murtha stood by awaiting the crew’s return off the San Diego coastline, accompanied by a fleet of military aircraft and helicopters.
Lifting off from Florida on April 1, the astronauts chalked up victory after victory as they skillfully guided NASA’s long-anticipated lunar return, representing the first critical milestone toward building a permanent moon base.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen pierced Earth’s atmosphere at Mach 32
Artemis II neither touched down on the moon nor circled it. Yet it shattered Apollo 13’s distance record, marking the furthest any human beings have ever traveled from Earth when the crew hit 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers).
Then, in the mission’s most emotionally charged moment, the tearful astronauts requested permission to name two craters after their lunar spacecraft and Wiseman’s deceased wife, Carroll.
During Monday’s record-shattering flyby, they captured never-before-seen footage of the moon’s far side alongside a total solar eclipse.
A NASA livestream shows the Orion spacecraft on its way back to the Earth(Image: NASA/AFP via Getty Images)
The eclipse, in particular, “just blew all of us away,” Glover said. Their sense of awe and profound affection moved everyone who witnessed it, as did their stunning photographs of the moon and Earth.
The Artemis II crew paid homage to Apollo 8’s pioneering lunar explorers with their Earthset imagery, capturing our Blue Marble descending behind the moon’s grey surface — a striking callback to Apollo 8’s iconic Earthrise photograph from 1968.
“It just makes you want to continue to go back,” Radigan said on the eve of splashdown. “It’s the first of many trips and we just need to continue on because there’s so much” more to learn about the moon.
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