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Artemis II Completes NASA’s First Crewed Lunar Flyby in More Than 50 Years

Hallie Lawson

• 3 min read
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Artemis II Completes NASA’s First Crewed Lunar Flyby in More Than 50 Years
Photo by i m__Prakhar Kont / Unsplash
NASA’s Artemis II mission has officially concluded with a Pacific Ocean splashdown, completing the agency’s first crewed journey around the Moon in over 50 years and marking a major milestone in modern deep-space exploration.

The Artemis II mission ended on April 10, 2026, as the Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.

NASA had targeted a splashdown time of 8:07 p.m. EDT, closing out the agency’s most significant crewed Moon test since the Apollo era.

A Full End-to-End Mission Test

Artemis II launched on April 1, 2026, aboard NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission sent four astronauts on an approximately 10-day lunar flyby, designed as a full end-to-end test of NASA’s modern deep-space systems.

According to NASA, the mission’s goal was to confirm that Orion and SLS can operate as intended with astronauts onboard before future missions attempt lunar landings.

The Crew Traveled Farther Than Ever Before

The mission carried NASA astronauts:

  • Reid Wiseman
  • Victor Glover
  • Christina Koch

Alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut:

  • Jeremy Hansen

During the flight, Orion surpassed the long-standing distance record set by Apollo 13, reaching approximately 252,756 miles from Earth.

NASA also highlighted several historic firsts:

  • The first woman to travel into deep lunar space
  • The first person of color to do so
  • The first non-American astronaut to reach that distance

A Journey Around the Moon

Rather than attempting a landing, Artemis II followed a free-return trajectory around the Moon.

This flight path allowed Orion to swing around the Moon’s far side and use lunar gravity to guide the spacecraft back toward Earth.

During the mission’s seven-hour lunar flyby on April 6, the crew captured:

  • Imagery of the Moon’s far side
  • A rare in-space solar eclipse

The trajectory also provided a full test of navigation, communications, and spacecraft operations across a complete deep-space profile.

Testing Systems Under Real Conditions

For NASA, Artemis II was primarily about validation, not symbolism.

The mission tested:

  • Life-support systems for extended crewed spaceflight
  • Manual piloting capabilities
  • Deep-space communications and navigation
  • Operational procedures for future missions

This makes Artemis II the first full crewed validation of NASA’s modern lunar transportation system.

Splashdown Was a Critical Test

The mission’s conclusion was one of its most important engineering phases.

NASA’s return sequence included:

  • Final trajectory correction burns
  • Entry interface into Earth’s atmosphere
  • Parachute deployment
  • Ocean splashdown

Recovery operations were carried out with support from helicopters and transfer to the USS John P. Murtha, completing the final phase of the mission.

Recovery Was Part of the Mission

NASA emphasized that recovery operations are a core part of the test campaign.

After splashdown off Southern California, teams retrieved the crew, conducted initial assessments, and transported them to the recovery ship before returning to Houston.

For a program focused on building a repeatable lunar transportation system, this recovery chain is as critical as launch and flight.

iPhone 17 Pro Max Makes a Unique Appearance

Alongside NASA’s standard imaging equipment, Artemis II also included an unexpected detail.

Astronauts carried iPhone 17 Pro Max devices onboard Orion, using them to capture photos and video during the mission.

According to reporting from Space.com, this marks one of the first crewed deep-space missions where modern consumer smartphones were used in this way.

While not mission-critical hardware, their presence highlights the growing capability of consumer technology, even in extreme environments.

The Bigger Picture

With the spacecraft and crew safely back on Earth, Artemis II now transitions from mission to data.

NASA will analyze telemetry, imagery, communications data, and hardware performance to inform future Artemis missions.

In practical terms, Artemis II demonstrated:

  • Launch and crewed deep-space operations
  • Lunar flyby navigation
  • Reentry and landing systems
  • Full recovery procedures

Together, these results provide NASA with its clearest confirmation yet that its systems for future Moon missions can operate as designed.

It’s not just the end of a mission, it’s the beginning of the next phase of human exploration beyond Earth.