'Welcome home, Artemis': Crew celebrates historic 10-day moon mission

After their historic lunar flyby, the crew safely splashed down in the Pacific.

ByMary Kekatos, Julia Jacobo, Leah Sarnoff, Ivan Pereira, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: April 11, 2026, 5:12 PM EDT

NASA's Artemis II mission lifted off on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The four-person crew completed a 695,081-mile, 10-day journey around the moon, also known as a lunar fly-by.

A "textbook" splashdown took place at 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, April 10.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Apr 10, 2026, 9:37 PM EDT

All 4 crew members out of the capsule

Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman is the last crewmember to come out of the capsule.

The process to hoist them up to awaiting Navy helicopters will begin shortly.

NASA's Artemis II crewmembers, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen sit in a raft in the Pacific Ocean after exiting the Orion spacecraft off the coast of San Diego, April 10, 2026.
NASA
Apr 10, 2026, 9:34 PM EDT

Crew being extracted from capsule

The four Artemis II crewmembers are emerging from the Orion capsule for the first time since beginning their mission 10 days ago.

A burst of applause and cheers could be heard in NASA's Mission Control Center as the first crew member came out.

The astronauts will get a chance to readjust to Earth's gravity on an inflatable raft known as the front porch before helicopters take them to the USS John P. Murtha.

Apr 10, 2026, 9:07 PM EDT

Trump congratulates crew

President Donald Trump congratulated the Artemis II crew, calling it a "spectacular" trip, and said he looks forward to seeing them at the White House "soon," in a social media post following the successful splashdown.

A TV was wheeled into the roundtable dinner that the president was attending in Charlottesville, Virginia, and he watched the Artemis splashdown, according to a White House official.

Apr 10, 2026, 8:59 PM EDT

Side hatch opened

The side hatch of the Orion capsule is now open, as four Navy personnel -- one for each astronaut -- enter the capsule to check on the crewmembers.

The side hatch of NASA's Orion spacecraft is open as it floats in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, April 10, 2026.
NASA

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