HOUSTON (AP) – The Artemis II astronauts returned from the moon with a dramatic splash in the Pacific Friday to bring humanity to a close. the first lunar trip in more than half a century.
It was a triumphant homecoming for the crew of four record lunar flight revealed not only parts of the far side of the moon – never before seen by human eyes – but a total solar eclipse.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen of Canada hit the atmosphere traveling Mach 33 – or 33 times the speed of sound – a blistering turbulence not seen since. NASA’s Apollo images of the moon of the 1960s and 1970s. Their Orion capsule, named Integrity, made the dive on autopilot.
Tension at Mission Control rose when the capsule became engulfed in hot plasma during peak heating and went into a planned communications blackout.
All eyes were on the capsule’s life-saving heat shield, which had to withstand thousands of degrees during re-entry. On the spacecraft’s next single test flight — in 2022, with no one aboard — the charred exterior of the shield returned looking as pockmarked as the moon.
Like many others, chief flight director Jeff Radigan predicted feeling some of that “irrational fear that is human nature,” especially during the six-minute layoff before the parachutes opened. The recovery ship USS John P. Murtha awaited the arrival of the crew off the coast of San Diego, along with a squadron of military aircraft and helicopters.
The astronauts’ families crowded into the Mission Control viewing room, where cheers erupted as the capsule came out of the communications blackout and back down.
The last time NASA and the Department of Defense teamed up for a lunar crew re-entry was Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II was projected to come roaring back at 36,170 feet (11,025 meters) per second – or 24,661 mph (39,668 mph on record) – just 01 mph. spray.
“A perfect splash from the bull’s eye,” reported Mission Control’s Rob Navias.
Artemis II flyby recording and lunar views
Starting from Florida on April 1, astronauts won one victory after another as they deftly navigated NASA’s long-awaited lunar return, the first major step in establishing a permanent lunar base.
Artemis II did not land on the Moon or orbit it. But she broke Apollo 13’s distance record and marked the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth when the crew reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers). Then, in the most moving scene of the mission, the tearful astronauts asked for permission to name a pair of craters after their moon ship and Wiseman’s late wife Carroll.
During Monday’s record-breaking flight, they documented the scenes of the far side of the moon never before seen by the human eye along with a total solar eclipse. The eclipse, in particular, “just blew us all away,” Glover said.
Their sense of wonder and love wowed everyone, as did their breathtaking photos of the moon and earth. The Artemis II crew channeled the first lunar explorers of Apollo 8 with Earthset, showing our Blue Marble setting behind the gray moon. It was reminiscent of the famous Apollo 8 Earthrise film from 1968.
“We’re back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon, getting them back safely and set up for another series,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said Friday from the recovery ship. “This is just the beginning.”
Their moonshot attracted global attention as well as star power, earning support from President Donald Trump; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; King Charles III of Britain; Ryan Gosling, star of the latest space movie “Project Hail Mary”; Scarlett Johansson of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and even Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner of the original Star Trek TV movie.
Artemis II was a test flight for future missions to the moon
Despite the rich scientific yield, the nearly 10-day flight was not without technical problems. Both the drinking water system and the capsule’s propulsion system were hit with valve problems. In perhaps the most high-profile situation, the toilet continued to malfunction, but the astronauts shrugged it off.
“We can’t dig deeper unless we’re doing some things that are inappropriate,” Koch said, “unless we’re making some sacrifices, unless we’re taking some risks, and all of those things are worth it.”
Added Hansen: “You do a lot of field testing, but your last test is when you take this device into space, and it’s a bad thing.”
Under the revamped Artemis program, next year’s Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with one or two lunar landers in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a two-person crew near the moon’s south pole in 2028.
The loyalty of the Artemis II astronauts was to those future crews, Wiseman said.
“But we really hoped in our hearts that we could just stop the world for a moment and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and we should all cherish what we’ve been given,” he said.
The Associated Press Department of Health and Science receives support from the Department of Science Education of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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