The Orion spacecraft, carrying Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, reentered Earth’s atmosphere at speeds approaching Mach 33, enduring extreme heat before parachuting into the Pacific, where recovery forces including the USS John P. Murtha awaited.

The mission, launched from Florida on April 1, represents NASA’s first crewed journey to the vicinity of the moon in more than five decades. Artemis II did not land or enter lunar orbit but surpassed the distance record set by Apollo 13, reaching approximately 252,756 miles (406,771 km) from Earth.

Mission control monitored the critical reentry phase closely, particularly the performance of the spacecraft’s heat shield, which must withstand temperatures of several thousand degrees. A brief communications blackout lasting about six minutes occurred as expected before parachute deployment.

During the mission’s lunar flyby earlier in the week, the crew captured imagery of the moon’s far side and observed a total solar eclipse, according to NASA. Astronauts also transmitted images showing Earth setting behind the lunar horizon, evoking earlier Apollo-era imagery.

Despite its achievements, the mission encountered minor technical issues, including valve problems affecting drinking water and propellant systems, as well as intermittent malfunctions in onboard sanitation equipment. Crew members reported managing the issues without significant impact on mission objectives.

Artemis II is a precursor to future missions under NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustained human presence on the moon. Planned follow-on missions include Artemis III, expected to test docking maneuvers in Earth orbit, and Artemis IV, which is intended to attempt a crewed lunar landing near the moon’s south pole later in the decade.

The mission drew international attention and marked a significant step in the United States’ renewed efforts in human deep-space exploration.

The crew Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen launched from Florida last week aboard the Orion spacecraft and traveled beyond the Moon’s far side, becoming the farthest-flying humans in history.

The mission is part of NASA’s broader Artemis program, a multibillion-dollar effort to return humans to the lunar surface by 2028 and establish a sustained presence that could support future missions to Mars.

During a six-hour lunar flyby, the astronauts conducted real-time observations and communicated continuously with scientists on Earth, providing rare human insights into lunar conditions.

Researchers gathered at NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston analyzed live and recorded data, engaging in direct exchanges with the crew across a distance of more than 400,000 km.

Scientists view the mission as a key step in advancing understanding of the solar system’s formation, with the Moon offering what mission specialists describe as a “witness plate” of early planetary history.

The data collected during the flyby is also expected to inform potential landing sites for future robotic missions, which NASA plans to begin deploying in the coming years as part of its long-term lunar exploration strategy.

Astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion capsule conducted direct observations of the Moon’s shadowed hemisphere, witnessing meteor “impact flashes” striking the cratered surface.

The flyby brought the spacecraft within 4,070 miles of the lunar surface roughly six days after launch.Scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center monitored the event in real time, recording data relayed by the crew as they passed around the Moon at a distance of about a quarter million miles from Earth.

The milestone marks the first time astronauts have traveled to the vicinity of the Moon since the Apollo program ended more than five decades ago. The previous record of roughly 248,000 miles was set in 1970 during the Apollo 13 mission, which was forced to abort its landing due to a critical malfunction.

The Artemis II crew Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen also photographed Earth rising and setting against the lunar horizon, a rare visual phenomenon observed only by astronauts traveling beyond the Moon’s near side.

During the flyby, communications with Earth were cut for about 40 minutes as the Moon blocked signals between the spacecraft and NASA’s Deep Space Network. The blackout period is a known feature of missions traversing the far side of the Moon.

The astronauts also identified and proposed informal names for previously unnamed lunar features, including one crater suggested as “Integrity,” after their spacecraft, and another in memory of Wiseman’s late wife.

The mission forms part of NASA’s broader Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the Moon by 2028 and establish a sustained presence, including infrastructure to support future missions to Mars.

US President Donald Trump congratulated the crew during a live communication following the flyby, calling the achievement historic and globally inspiring.

SpaceX launched the ticket-holding crew, led by a retired NASA astronaut now working for the company that arranged the trip from Kennedy Space Center. Also on board: a U.S. businessman who now owns a sports car racing team.

The four should reach the space station in their capsule Monday morning; they’ll spend just over a week there before returning home with a splashdown off the Florida coast.

Sponsored by the Saudi Arabian government, Rayyanah Barnawi, a stem cell researcher, became the first woman from the kingdom to go to space. She was joined by Ali al-Qarni, a fighter pilot with the Royal Saudi Air Force.

They’re the first from their country to ride a rocket since a Saudi prince launched aboard shuttle Discovery in 1985. In a quirk of timing, they’ll be greeted at the station by an astronaut from the United Arab Emirates.

“Hello from outer space! It feels amazing to be viewing Earth from this capsule,” Barnawi said after settling into orbit.

Added al-Qarni: “As I look outside into space, I can’t help but think this is just the beginning of a great journey for all of us.”

Rounding out the visiting crew: Knoxville, Tennessee’s John Shoffner, former driver and owner of a sports car racing team that competes in Europe, and chaperone Peggy Whitson, the station’s first female commander who holds the U.S. record for most accumulated time in space: 665 days and counting.

“It was a phenomenal ride,” Whitson said after reaching orbit. Her crewmates clapped their hands in joy.

It’s the second private flight to the space station organized by Houston-based Axiom Space. The first was last year by three businessmen, with another retired NASA astronaut. The company plans to start adding its own rooms to the station in another few years, eventually removing them to form a stand-alone outpost available for hire.

Axiom won’t say how much Shoffner and Saudi Arabia are paying for the planned 10-day mission. The company had previously cited a ticket price of $55 million each.

NASA’s latest price list shows per-person, per-day charges of $2,000 for food and up to $1,500 for sleeping bags and other gear. Need to get your stuff to the space station in advance? Figure roughly $10,000 per pound ($20,000 per kilogram), the same fee for trashing it afterward. Need your items back intact? Double the price.

The guests will have access to most of the station as they conduct experiments, photograph Earth and chat with schoolchildren back home, demonstrating how kites fly in space when attached to a fan.

After decades of shunning space tourism, NASA now embraces it with two private missions planned a year. The Russian Space Agency has been doing it, off and on, for decades.

“Our job is to expand what we do in low-Earth orbit across the globe,” said NASA’s space station program manager Joel Montalbano.

SpaceX’s first-stage booster landed back at Cape Canaveral eight minutes after liftoff — a special treat for the launch day crowd, which included about 60 Saudis. “It was a very, very exciting day,” said Axiom’s Matt Ondler.