The spacecraft that carried four astronauts around the moon has returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida nearly a month after completing humanity’s first lunar voyage in over half a century.
Following splashdown in the Pacific on April 10, the Orion capsule was transported by truck from San Diego to Cape Canaveral. Engineers will inspect its heat shield and systems ahead of next year’s Artemis III docking demonstration in Earth orbit.
Artemis II mission takes humans farther than ever in historic Moon journey
Electronic systems will be removed and recycled along with onboard research equipment. Named Integrity by its U.S.-Canadian crew, the capsule carried astronauts farther into space than any humans have traveled before. NASA said the nearly 10-day mission performed well aside from a malfunctioning toilet. Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen have completed medical checks and post-flight tests and are now resting. Posting on X, Wiseman said he had been waiting to reflect after the mission, describing a rare sense of peace on a beach.
Until Artemis II, no humans had flown to Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972; Artemis III will use a new capsule and crew orbital docking SpaceX Blue Origin landers 2028 landing.