Artemis II crew (from left) Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Pilot Victor Glover, and Commander Reid Wiseman are on their way back to Earth. Photo: Getty ImagesThe four Artemis II astronauts, returning from the world's first crewed moon voyage in over half a century, hurtled back toward Earth on Friday aboard their gumdrop-shaped Orion spacecraft, headed for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off Southern California. If all goes well, US astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will end up bobbing safely in the ocean aboard their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, tomorrow morning (NZ time) off the coast of San Diego. In so doing, they became the first astronauts to fly in the vicinity of the moon since the Apollo program of the 1960s and '70s. As a result, NASA engineers altered the descent trajectory for Artemis II in order to reduce heat buildup and lower the risk of the capsule burning up.

Source: Otago Daily Times April 10, 2026 09:34 UTC