NASA’s Artemis II crew have splashed down safely and flawlessly in the Pacific Ocean off California after a terrifying hurtle towards Earth, described as a “ride through a fireball”.
The historic 10-day mission that took them farther from Earth than any humans in history.
The Orion capsule, carrying Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, hit the atmosphere at a staggering 40,000km/h, travelling more than 30 times the speed of sound, before parachuting into the ocean just after 10am AEST on Saturday.
The capsule’s heat shield will bear the brunt of the intense conditions, charring and shedding material as designed to protect those inside.
The splashdown marks the dramatic conclusion of a mission that has made history.
The Artemis II astronauts travelled more than 405,000km from Earth, surpassing a 56-year-old record set during the Apollo 13 mission, and becoming the first humans to fly around the Moon since the Apollo era.
The voyage is a crucial step in NASA’s long-term plans to return humans to the lunar surface and eventually push on to Mars.
Commander Reid Wiseman previously described the mission as part of a “golden age of space travel”, saying it showed what could be achieved with global co-operation and ambition.
This live coverage has now concluded, you can read our earlier posts below
