Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentIndependentSwipe for next articleIndependent Bulletin homepageDownload our appAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleRiley HoffmanSaturday 11 April 2026 01:15 BSTArtemis II splashdown: NASA astronauts to return to earth in grand finaleAfter a 10-day mission, Artemis II and its four astronauts – NASA’s Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen – successfully returned to Earth Friday night.The splashdown took place off the coast of San Diego, California, landing in the Pacific Ocean.A “perfect, bulls-eye splashdown” was confirmed at 5:07 p.m. PT by NASA. All four astronauts were said to be in “excellent shape” following the landing.Leading up to the landing, the crew was 400,000 feet above Earth’s surface, heading into splashdown while traveling nearly 35 times the speed of sound.The four-person crew went on a 695,081-mile journey around the moon. The crew exited the lunar sphere of influence, the point at which the Moon’s gravity has a stronger pull on Orion than the Earth’s, on April 7, before heading back to Earth.In fullAstronauts survive plunge to Earth and complete Artemis Moon mission in huge success for NASAThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in