NASA's Artemis II moonship returns to Florida after historic voyage
AP News • • science
Key Points:
- NASA’s Artemis II capsule, which carried four astronauts on the first lunar trip in over 50 years, returned to Kennedy Space Center in Florida after splashdown in the Pacific on April 10.
- The Orion capsule, named Integrity by its crew, performed well during the nearly 10-day mission, with only minor issues such as a finicky toilet reported.
- Engineers will conduct detailed inspections of the capsule’s heat shield and other systems in preparation for Artemis III, scheduled for next year, which will involve docking exercises in Earth orbit.
- Artemis III will use a new capsule and crew to test docking with lunar landers under development by SpaceX and Blue Origin, aiming for a moon landing by two astronauts as early as 2028.
- The Artemis II crew, including Commander Reid Wiseman and astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, are currently undergoing post-mission medical exams and taking time to recover.
