The Artemis II crew consisted of NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. According to major media reports, Victor Glover became the first black astronaut to reach deep space, Christina Koch the first woman, and Jeremy Hansen the first Canadian. The crew traveled further from Earth than any humans have before, surpassing the Apollo 13 record, with multiple reports indicating the mission covered a total distance of about 685,000 to 694,481 miles.
The mission lasted about 10 days and involved a lunar flyby without landing on the Moon. Research sources note that the crew lost contact with Earth for 40 minutes as they traveled behind the Moon, and they witnessed a total lunar eclipse during the journey. According to research, the astronauts took images with digital cameras and made sketches and audio descriptions of the Moon's surface.
During re-entry, the Orion capsule experienced extreme conditions, with major media reporting high speeds of up to 23,839 to 24,000 mph, temperatures up to 2,760°C, and a communication blackout due to plasma buildup. A heat shield protected the crew during re-entry, with major media noting it performed well and showed only minor charring. However, NASA officials were anxious about re-entry, with no backup plan if the heat shield failed, and major media reports indicate the heat shield on the uncrewed Artemis I mission sustained damage, leading to design changes for Artemis II.
Parachutes slowed the capsule for splashdown, with three parachutes deployed, and research sources note that after splashdown, five orange airbags inflated to flip the capsule upright. After splashdown, the astronauts were recovered by a combined NASA and U.S. military team, transported via helicopter to the USS John P. Murtha for medical checkouts, and later returned to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
We saw sights that no human has ever seen, not even Apollo, and that was amazing for us.
The crew held a news conference after returning, expressing hope and unity, and they named a crater after Reid Wiseman's late wife, Carroll Taylor Wiseman, with Jeremy Hansen requesting to name two craters: 'Integrity' and one to commemorate Wiseman's wife.
NASA launched its Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on April 1, 2026, according to research sources. President Trump spoke with the Orion team and congratulated them, with research indicating his involvement.
Artemis II is the first crewed mission in the Artemis program, according to official sources, and the mission is a step toward future moon landings, a moon base, and eventual missions to Mars. Experts note there is a space race between the US and China influencing moon mission timelines.
Discrepancies exist in reports about the splashdown date and time, with some stating it occurred on Friday, April 10, 2026, around 8:07 pm ET, while others report it on Saturday, April 11, 2026. Similarly, re-entry speed is reported as 23,839 mph in some accounts and 24,000 mph or 32 times the speed of sound in others. Assessments of the heat shield performance also vary, with reports of it performing well with only minor charring contrasting with significant risks and past damage on Artemis I.
Unknowns remain regarding specific design changes made to the heat shield after Artemis I damage and the exact medical findings from post-flight evaluations of the astronauts. The communication blackout during re-entry's effect on mission control's ability to monitor the capsule has not been detailed, and the exact timeline and criteria for NASA's planned lunar landing by 2028 are unclear. Additionally, detailed economic benefits expected from the Artemis program as mentioned by NASA have not been specified.