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

PHOTO: (L-R) NASA's Artemis II mission astronauts Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist Christina Koch, pilot Victor Glover and commander Reid Wiseman attend a welcoming ceremony in Houston, Texas, on April 11, 2026.

3:01

Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images

Artemis II crew arrives back to Houston after the dramatic Pacific splashdown

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.

Apr 06, 2026 3:36 PM

Artemis II crew is awake and ready for their lunar flyby

The Artemis II mission crew is awake and preparing for today's historic lunar flyby.

NASA reported the crew wake-up at around 10:35 a.m. ET.

NASA

CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen shaves after waking up on the Orion spacecraft, April 6, 2026.

NASA

“Morning routine: Wake up, shave, make the bed, witness something that's never before been seen by human eyes," NASA said. "The Artemis II crew is preparing for today's lunar flyby, when they will see the Moon's far side.”

NASA

The interior of the Orion spacecraft, April 6, 2026.

NASA

The lunar flyby is scheduled to commence at 2:45 p.m. ET today, according to NASA.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado

Apr 06, 2026 1:26 PM

Key milestones expected during lunar flyby

On Monday afternoon, the Artemis II crew is expected to surpass the distance record set during Apollo 13, traveling farther from Earth than any humans before them.

Later that evening, Orion will reach its maximum distance of 252,760 miles away, 4,105 miles farther than Apollo 13.

NASA has released a timeline of key moments during the flyby, as the world watches this next chapter of human spaceflight unfold.

NASA

NASA has released a timeline of key moments during the lunar flyby, as the world watches this next chapter of human spaceflight unfold.

NASA

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado

Apr 06, 2026 1:39 PM

Orion holding 'pinpoint trajectory' toward moon, NASA says

The Artemis II mission is now less than a day away from entering the pivotal lunar flyby part of the journey.

After days of travel, NASA leaders provided an update on Artemis II’s progress, along with new insight into what astronauts will be observing on the moon and beyond during Monday’s lunar flyby.

According to NASA flight director Rick Henfling, Orion is on an exceptionally precise trajectory toward the moon, which led to the cancellation of its first two planned course-correction burns.

PHOTO: This artist’s concept depicts the nominal trajectory for NASA’s Artemis II test flight, an approximately 10-day mission that will send four astronauts around the Moon and back.

Goddard/JSC/NASA

This artist’s concept depicts the nominal trajectory for NASA’s Artemis II test flight, an approximately 10-day mission that will send four astronauts around the Moon and back.

Goddard/JSC/NASA

“We found that Orion was on such a pinpoint trajectory that we didn't need to do the first two correction maneuvers,” Henfling said during Sunday’s news conference.

A third adjustment is still scheduled for Sunday at 11:03 p.m. ET. It is expected to be a brief, 14-second firing designed to keep the spacecraft perfectly aligned ahead of the flyby.

Just hours later, around 12:40 a.m. ET Monday, Orion will officially cross over into the lunar sphere of influence. This is the point where the moon’s gravity takes over from Earth’s. From there, the crew will begin a carefully choreographed sequence of observations as they pass by the lunar surface.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado

Apr 05, 2026 8:52 PM

Artemis II astronauts practice donning, removing space suits

Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover Jr., Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are now donning their Orion Crew Survival System (OCSS) suits and beginning their operational demo.

The crew will practicing donning and removing the suits quickly in the event of a depressurization emergency within the spacecraft.

PHOTO: Crewmembers are shown on the Artemis II mission on flight day 3.

NASA

Crewmembers Christina Koch, mission specialist; Victor Glover, pilot; Reid Wiseman, commander; and Reid Wiseman, commander; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist; are shown on the Artemis II mission on flight day 3.

NASA

The demo affords an opportunity to see the Artemis II crew wearing their spacesuits as they travel ever closer to the moon ahead of Monday's lunar flyby.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado

Apr 01, 2026 5:04 PM

All SLS fuel tanks are fully loaded

All of the Artemis II SLS rocket fuel tanks are fully loaded and ground crews are in the replenishment phase, which replaces the cryogenic propellent that naturally boils off.

They will soon deploy the close-out crew and prepare for the flight crew to board the Orion crew module.

PHOTO: NASA's Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen as the Artemis II launch teams load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, April 1, 2026.

Bill Ingalls/NASA

NASA's Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft aboard is seen as the Artemis II launch teams load more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, April 1, 2026.

Bill Ingalls/NASA

The crew will then walk out of the Operations and Checkout Building and head to the spacecraft.

Weather remains at an 80% likelihood for a go for launch. Tonight's window is between 6:24 p.m. ET and 8:24 p.m. ET from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B.

-ABC News' Matthew Glasser