Artemis II splashes down after 10 days as NASA eyes lander tests, lunar nuclear power and Titan drone

NASA’s Orion capsule carrying four astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a 10‑day journey around the moon, concluding what the agency described as a record‑breaking flight and resetting the clock for the next phase of the United States’ lunar ambitions.

The crew traveled nearly 700,000 miles during the odyssey, which produced striking views of Earth and the lunar surface. Their safe return from lunar orbit has already prompted debate over the costs, climate effects and long‑term value of going back to the moon, even as psychologists point to the “overview effect” and the sense of awe such voyages can trigger.

Attention now shifts to Artemis III. In the 2027 mission, NASA aims to test two rival lunar landers from SpaceX and Blue Origin for a lunar landing mission, a high‑stakes competition that will shape how astronauts eventually set foot on the moon again. Long‑term plans hinge on power.

If the U.S. is to set up a permanent outpost on the moon, it will need nuclear energy, and the White House has released a road map to pursue it as soon as 2028. Some long‑imagined technologies remain on the sidelines. NASA’s moon‑focused plans have left space planes in an uncertain place; Dream Chaser, a commercial U.S.

space plane, is still chasing the goal of lifting off to orbit and returning to land on a runway. Beyond the moon, NASA is preparing to send Dragonfly, a nuclear‑powered octocopter, to Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, in 2028 to explore its air, land and seas—one of the agency’s most ambitious planetary missions.

With Artemis II complete, NASA has demonstrated a return to deep‑space, crewed operations for the first time in a half‑century. The program now pivots from proving it can