'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.

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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 01, 2026 5:57 PM

What life will be like for the Artemis II astronauts inside the Orion crew module

Imagine being cramped in the back seat of a car for several hours as the twists and turns of the highway intensify already uncomfortable circumstances.

Now imagine similar conditions on a 10-day trip, traveling a distance of 685,000 miles at over 20,000 miles per hour.

That's what lies ahead for the four astronauts on the Artemis II mission onboard the Orion crew module.

Radislav Sinyak/NASA

Engineers and astronauts conducted testing in a representative model of the Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Radislav Sinyak/NASA

Artemis II astronauts are suiting up

The four Artemis II astronauts are suiting up, officially stepping into their Orion Crew Survival System (OCCS) spacesuits as they prepare for their long-awaited launch.

These specialized suits are worn during the most critical phases of flight: liftoff and reentry.

NASA

NASA astronauts Christina Koch, Reid Wiseman Victor Glover and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen pose together after being suited up before the launch of the Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, April 1, 2026 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA

The astronauts are also undergoing leak checks to ensure that their suits are airtight. They conduct a total of three leak checks in the suit-up room and then three more checks once in the Orion crew capsule, according to NASA.

-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

Apr 01, 2026 4:38 PM

How NASA plans to keep astronauts safe during the Artemis II mission

Despite all the preparation, safety systems and redundancies, the nature of human spaceflight is inherently risky, according to experts.

"I think it'd make everybody feel comfortable to say that all the risk was knocked down to zero," Danny Olivas, former NASA astronaut and engineer, told ABC News. "The truth is it is not and never will be."

PHOTO: NASA's Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, March 30, 2026, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Bill Ingalls/NASA/AFP via Getty Images

NASA's Artemis II Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, March 30, 2026, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Bill Ingalls/NASA/AFP via Getty Images

NASA is using a variety of tools and systems to ensure crew safety from launch to splashdown, including customized lifesaving spacesuits, a launch abort system, radiation monitoring, an emergency egress system and other contingencies.

Artemis II scheduled to launch today

NASA's Artemis II mission is scheduled to launch today between 6:24 p.m. ET and 8:24 p.m. ET from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B.

The crew of four astronauts – mission commander Reid Weisman, mission pilot Victor J. Glover Jr., and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen – will board the Orion crew capsule, dubbed Integrity, atop the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for a more than 600,000-mile, 10-day journey around the moon to test critical spacecraft systems ahead of the Artemis IV mission, which is intended to land astronauts near the moon's South Pole, a region never explored by humans, in 2028.

PHOTO: Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen stop for a group photo during a visit to NASA's Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, March 30, 2026, at Launch Complex 39B of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Fla.

Bill Ingalls/NASA/AFP via Getty Images

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen stop for a group photo during a visit to NASA's Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft, March 30, 2026, at Launch Complex 39B of NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Fla.

Bill Ingalls/NASA/AFP via Getty Images

At mission's end, Orion will splash down in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of San Diego, with recovery operations conducted by the U.S. Navy and NASA.