NASA’s Artemis II created history and how. The crew successfully splashed down in the Pacific Ocean at 8:07 p.m. on April 10. Artemis II’s mission around the moon was led by a 4-member crew. President Donald Trump congratulated the Artemis II crew on the successful around-the-moon mission.
Donald Trump wrote in his Truth Social post, “Congratulations to the great and very talented Crew of Artemis II. The entire trip was spectacular, the landing was perfect, and as the President of the United States, I could not be prouder! I look forward to seeing you all at the White House soon. We’ll be doing it again, and then the next step, Mars.”
After covering a journey of 690,000 miles, Mission Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen returned to Earth after a historic lunar flyby, and they received a warm welcome.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 11, 2026
NASA shared a video of the Pacific splashdown, writing, “Welcome home, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy!, while the White House cheered for the crew, sharing a video on X that simply read “A historic mission, returned HOME.”
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. pic.twitter.com/1yjAgHEOYl
— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026
Jared Isaacman, the current administrator of NASA, also penned a note on X, an excerpt from which read, “And splashdown! America is back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon and bringing them home safely. Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy did an outstanding job. These talented astronauts inspired the world and represented their space agencies and nations as humanity’s ambassadors to the stars.”
And splashdown!
America is back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon and bringing them home safely.
Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy did an outstanding job. These talented astronauts inspired the world and represented their space agencies and nations as… pic.twitter.com/wOioBBvGhX
— NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) April 11, 2026
Among other early reactions was one from California Governor Gavin Newsom, who wrote on X, “Artemis II crew is back on Earth, splashing down off the California coast. It marks the United States’ first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years. California is proud to have played a part in its success from start to finish!”
Throughout the journey, NASA had been actively documenting it all with real-time updates about Artemis II, from its arrival on Earth to scenes from the Orion, along with some stunning photographs from the mission around the Moon. The crew left for their mission from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 1.
NASA also gave a sneak peek at the 189-item menu space platter, which had everything from brisket and cobblers to beverages, desserts, spreads, and condiments. A regular mission-day roster included breakfast, lunch and dinner, two rounds of flavoured beverages and more.
Another highlight of this moon mission was a special Moon mascot plush toy, ‘Rise,’ a zero-gravity indicator, designed by 2nd-grader Lucas Ye from California. The plushy carried over 5,647,889 names to the moon of the people, who had sent their entries for the Send Your Name with Artemis campaign. All the names were downloaded onto an SD card and went to the moon with ‘Rise’.
Besides the stunning photos and scientific updates, of course, NASA also shared Artemis II crew’s elite playlist that was full of space-themed hits, among them were Here Comes the Sun and Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles, Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra, Rocket Man by Elton John, A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay, Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves, Beautiful Day by U2, Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen and Happy by Pharrell Williams, to name a few.
