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Washington, Apr 11: NASA closed its landmark lunar mission with great success, following a smooth and carefully choreographed recovery of its astronauts, as the Artemis II crew returned safely to Earth and emerged from the Orion capsule, receiving cheers from everyone at mission control.
At a post-splashdown briefing in Houston, the mood was highly festive. Exploration ground systems program manager Shawn Quinn called it “an incredible end to an incredible mission,” adding, “It’s good to be NASA, it’s good to be an American today.”
Inside the capsule, the transition back to Earth began quickly. About 90 minutes after splashdown, the side hatch opened and the astronauts stepped out one by one onto the inflatable “front porch” raft – a small but critical platform that helps crews regain balance after days in microgravity. Commander Reid Wiseman was the last to emerge.
A medical officer who entered the capsule informed that all four crew members were “feeling great, happy to be home, and ready to be extracted as soon as possible,” much to the relief of everyone else.
Around them, recovery operations unfolded with precision, as navy divers moved in, securing the capsule and attaching the inflatable collar designed to stabilize it in the water. The strong ocean currents made it a difficult task, as it forced divers to work carefully to keep Orion steady, but they pulled it off successfully.
Once stabilized, four divers entered the spacecraft to carry out initial medical checks before extraction began. The astronauts, now fitted with hoisting vests, were lifted individually into hovering helicopters, marking their full return from deep space.
Each helicopter then ferried its passenger to the nearby USS John P. Murtha, positioned roughly 2,000 yards away. One by one, the crew touched down on the ship’s flight deck, bringing the recovery phase to a clean finish.
For NASA, the mission is already being framed as more than a success — a stepping stone.
Orion program manager Howard Hu said the data gathered will shape what comes next. “We’re going to learn from this mission… This is the start of a new era of space exploration.”
Dr Lori Glaze, echoing the same forward-looking tone, said “This is our first mission to the moon of many more to come.”
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