The Orion spacecraft, transporting the Artemis II team, completed its ocean landing near San Diego at 8:07 p.m. Eastern Time on April 10, marking the end of the mission's 10-day lunar circumnavigation. This flight served as a crucial evaluation for upcoming operations aimed at returning people to the moon's surface. At 7:33 p.m., the crew compartment detached from the propulsion unit, with the latter set to disintegrate upon atmospheric reentry while the former ensured a secure return for the occupants.
Orion entered the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere by 7:53 p.m., experiencing a six-minute radio silence as intense heat built up during the controlled drop. Equipped with 11 parachutes, the vehicle released its drogue versions at 23,400 feet to provide stability and reduce speed. Upon descending to 5,400 feet, those were released, allowing the three primary parachutes to open and slow the craft to 200 feet per second for a gentle water entry.
While the capsule floated, NASA technicians performed various checks before rescue personnel approached via small inflatable vessels to help remove the occupants. By 9:34 p.m., the four individuals had exited the vehicle and were lifted aboard helicopters, which carried them to the amphibious transport dock USS John P. Murtha for medical evaluations.
The mission lifted off on April 1 carrying NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Jeremy Hansen from the Canadian Space Agency. Over nearly 10 days, the group orbited the moon, venturing farther than any previous human spaceflight. They captured images of the moon's hidden hemisphere—the portion invisible from Earth—using personal mobile devices, securing unprecedented direct observations of that terrain as the first people to do so firsthand.
In a briefing after the recovery, NASA indicated that the lineup for Artemis III would be revealed shortly. That next phase involves linking up with one or both private lunar descent vehicles from SpaceX and Blue Origin while in low Earth orbit, validating their connection to Orion ahead of the first human moon landing in decades.