The crewed spacecraft Artemis II returned to Earth after completing its lunar mission. It is the first time since the 1970s that humans have flown around the moon's orbit and come back.
According to a live broadcast by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), at 8:07 p.m. on the 10th (local time) the crewed capsule "Orion" splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, United States. It came 10 days after it launched from Kennedy Space Center on the 1st.
Artemis II carried out an orbital flight mission circling the far side of the moon once. The astronauts directly observed the moon's diverse terrain and environment and secured data needed for deep-space exploration. This is assessed as a key step in long-term space development plans, including future crewed lunar landings and Mars exploration.
This mission is significant in that, for the first time in more than 50 years since Apollo 17 in Dec. 1972, humans again flew around the moon's orbit. There is also an assessment that crewed lunar exploration, which had been halted after the Apollo program, has resumed in earnest.
The astronauts' health conditions have not yet been disclosed. A U.S. Navy rescue team will approach the Orion capsule, recover the crew, and transport them to a nearby warship using an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter. After basic health checks are conducted on board, the mission will conclude once they move to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
NASA plans to accelerate preparations for Artemis III, a future lunar landing mission, based on the data secured from this mission.