All articles tagged with #artemis ii
NASA’s Artemis II crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—will return to Earth to an “abundant” supply of Uncrustables on the recovery ship after Smucker’s offered a lifetime supply; the crustless PB&J is a standout in a bread-free space menu, a mission that traveled about 252,756 miles and set distance records, with splashdown expected tonight.
NASA's Artemis II crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—completed a nine‑day mission around the Moon aboard the Orion capsule Integrity, then splashed down safely in the Pacific after a high‑speed re‑entry and a six‑minute comms blackout. The astronauts were taken for medical checks aboard the USS John P. Murtha and will head to Houston; President Donald Trump welcomed them home. NASA says the mission validates its updated heat‑shield re‑entry plan and sets the stage for Artemis III (Earth‑orbital rendezvous tests in mid‑2027) and Artemis IV (Moon landing planned for 2028), though targets may shift and the hardest part lies ahead.
NASA’s Artemis II carried multiple cameras, including a Nikon D5 DSLR, a Nikon Z9, an iPhone 17 Pro and action cams, prompting buzz about the D5’s enduring relevance. Photographers say newer gear isn’t everything and that lens quality and technique often matter more than the body, with the mission’s images showing older cameras can still produce spectacular Earth–Moon views during the lunar flyby and observations.
Artemis II has safely splashed down in the Pacific after a 10-day lunar orbit, with NASA confirming the crew is happy and healthy and headed to Houston for medical checks. NASA says it will use what it learned to inform Artemis III, targeted for 2027 to test a lunar lander in Earth orbit (with SpaceX/Blue Origin involvement), and Artemis IV for an early-2028 lunar surface landing. The agency plans to reuse hundreds of Orion components and continues to advance a sustainable lunar program, applying lessons from Artemis II to flight operations and control rooms.
NASA’s Orion crew module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California just after 8 p.m. ET, returning four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—from Artemis II, a circumlunar mission that looped around the Moon and tested systems ahead of future lunar landings.
After Artemis II's Moon mission, Push Square flags 10 PS5/PS4 space-themed games to scratch the spaceflight itch: Kerbal Space Program: Enhanced Edition, No Man's Sky (with PSVR2 support), Star Trucker, Heavenly Bodies, Dead Space, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Elite Dangerous, Starfield, Star Wars Outlaws, and Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector. The lineup ranges from realistic spaceflight sims and large-scale exploration to open-world adventures and narrative RPGs, offering co-op thrills and immersive experiences for fans of space exploration.
Artemis II's four-astronaut crew safely splashed down in the Pacific off California after a 10-day mission that included a lunar flyby; NASA said all four are in good condition as recovery teams prepared the inflatable 'front porch' raft and began extracting them from the Orion capsule for medical checks aboard the recovery ship.
Artemis II’s four-astronaut crew completed humanity’s first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years, reaching a record distance of about 252,756 miles and capturing the far side of the Moon plus a total solar eclipse. The Orion capsule, named Integrity, reentered the atmosphere at Mach 33 and made a controlled Pacific splashdown, marking a historic homecoming that sets the stage for future Artemis missions and a sustainable Moon program.
Artemis II’s four astronauts wrap up a ten-day mission around the Moon, traveling farther from Earth than any human before, capturing unprecedented images and sharing messages from space, while preparing for a Pacific splashdown as mission control and the public await the historic re-entry.
An op-ed praising Artemis II’s historic crewed mission and international collaboration, while arguing that NASA’s competence and a diverse, forward-looking team show what science-driven progress can achieve even amid domestic political turmoil and controversial leadership.
Live Science talks with Ed Macaulay about Artemis II’s heat shield: NASA is sticking with the same shield as Artemis I but changing to a direct reentry at roughly 25,000 mph to reduce stress, after Artemis I’s shield damage. Macaulay says there are reasons for confidence due to safety margins and improved modeling, though heat and g-forces remain a risk in crewed spaceflight. The mission has been technically successful so far and aims for a nominal, safe return as astronauts prepare to complete the lunar journey.
NASA will subject Artemis II astronauts to a roughly 1.5‑hour post‑splashdown obstacle course at Johnson Space Center, using the ARGOS gravity‑offload system to simulate lunar gravity. The crew will perform a capsule‑escape drill, don heavy EVA suits, and complete tasks such as electrical/fluid connections, geology drills, rock sampling, trenching, and a treadmill ascent, with testing repeated over three days to measure effort, heart rate, and performance and to guide how soon and how ambitiously future lunar activities might begin after weightlessness.
The U.S. Navy's dive medical recovery team from EODGRU-1 is aboard USS John P. Murtha to support NASA's Artemis II, retrieving the crew and Orion after their Pacific splashdown following a lunar flyby, as Artemis II becomes the first deep-space mission in more than five decades.
Ahead of Artemis II’s planned California splashdown, NASA acknowledges known flaws in the capsule’s heat shield—a design linked to Artemis I’s crack, and lacking a backup shield. Officials say a modified reentry path and crew safety measures will mitigate risk during the 5,000-degree-F heat, which makes the final ~13 minutes of flight the mission’s most perilous phase. Experts including Charlie Camarda warn of possible catastrophe, while NASA asserts the shield’s overall thermal performance has met or exceeded expectations; the four astronauts have been sending personal messages home as they approach splashdown.
NASA’s Artemis II mission ends with the Orion capsule splashing down in the Pacific off San Diego after a 10-day lunar flyby, bringing the crew of four—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—home and making them the latest to travel beyond low Earth orbit. The mission set a distance record of about 252,756 miles from Earth, tested life support, radiation detectors and future deep-space gear, and included moments of emotion and teamwork as the crew prepared for a 2028 crewed Moon landing while NASA plans the next steps at Johnson Space Center before a Houston reunion with families.