Orion capsule recovered in Pacific as NASA marks first crewed lunar‑region flight in over 50 years
By BC News Staff Writer
April 12, 2026
NASA’s Artemis II astronauts are officially back on Earth, concluding a milestone 10‑day mission that carried humans farther from home than any previous spaceflight. The Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego on Friday evening, where recovery teams quickly secured the capsule and assisted the crew.
Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen were extracted from Orion and transported for initial medical checks, all reported to be in good condition. NASA officials described the landing as “precise and nominal,” marking a major success for the agency’s return‑to‑the‑Moon program.
The spacecraft endured a fiery re‑entry, hitting the atmosphere at nearly 25,000 mph and generating temperatures around 5,000°F before deploying a sequence of 11 parachutes to slow its descent. Navy divers and NASA personnel aboard the USS John P. Murtha completed the recovery within minutes of splashdown.
Artemis II is the first crewed mission to travel around the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972 and the first human flight of NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft. The crew reached a peak distance of more than 252,000 miles from Earth, surpassing the Apollo 13 record and setting a new benchmark for human spaceflight.
NASA leaders say the mission’s success clears the way for Artemis III, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface later this decade.
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