Artemis II crew back on Earth. What's next after a trip to the moon?
Artemis II crew back on Earth. What's next after a trip to the moon?
Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY Sat, April 11, 2026 at 8:52 PM UTC
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The four astronauts who flew around the moon and back again on the Artemis II mission made their way back to the Johnson Space Center in Houston on April 11 after safely splashing back down on Earth the evening before.
On Saturday evening, NASA was hosting an event welcoming the crew back to Houston.
Earlier in the day, Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman said in social media posts that he was on a helicopter leaving the USS John P. Murtha, the ship where the crew underwent a medical evaluation after their landing off the Coast of San Diego.
"This planet is impossibly beautiful from every altitude I’ve seen it…surface to 250,000 miles," Wiseman said, sharing a photo of his view from the helicopter on April 11.
After splashing down after 8 p.m. on April 10, the Artemis II crew – Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen – was taken to the Murtha via HSC-23 helicopter. The astronauts underwent medical evaluations before helicopters transported them back to shore.
1 / 0Cheers and tears as Artemis II crew returns from historic moon mission
From San Diego to Houston, see cheers and tears as people react to the Artemis II crew's splashdown after a historic 10-day trip to the moon.Pictured here a boy cheers at a viewing party of the splashdown at the Air and Space Museum in San Diego, California, on April 10, 2026.
Once they arrived in Houston, the crew was set to be "promptly" reunited with family members, Artemis II Flight Director Rick Henfling said during a news conference on April 10.
"I'm sure each of the crew members has something special planned with their families, and that'll be the priority is for them to take some time and spend with their loved ones," Henfling said.
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They have also been invited to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House, though it's not clear when that might happen. Trump told the astronauts he's "pretty busy" but would "absolutely find the time."
The Orion spacecraft, which shuttled the astronauts to a record-breaking 252,756 miles from Earth, will undergo a barrage of testing and analysis. After splashdown, Orion was secured in the well deck of USS John P. Murtha. It will be returned to the U.S. Naval Base San Diego and eventually to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for inspection.
NASA scientists will "thoroughly examine the spacecraft, retrieve onboard data, remove payloads, and conduct additional post-flight check."
1 / 0See Artemis II splashdown after record-breaking trip around the moonThe Artemis II crew capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean in this screengrab from a livestream video after the Artemis II crew's flyby of the Moon, April 10, 2026.
Preparations for future lunar missions have already begun, including next year's Artemis III, and Artemis IV, which plans to make a moon landing in 2028 for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.
More: What we know about the next Artemis moon missions
"With Artemis II complete, focus now turns confidently toward assembling Artemis III and preparing to return to the lunar surface, build the base, and never give up the Moon again," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said.
Artemis III, slated for a 2027 launch, will send another crew of astronauts on the Orion spacecraft to Earth's orbit, where they will dock with at least one commercial lunar lander. All this will prepare a crew to eventually land on the moon in 2028.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Artemis II crew update. What's next after a trip to the moon?
Source: “AOL Breaking”
