From Florida liftoff to California splashdown, Artemis II showcases striking Earth and moon views

From a thunderous April launch in Florida to a calm splashdown off California, NASA’s Artemis II mission stitched together a 10-day arc around the moon that delivered striking images and a crucial test for the agency’s return to crewed lunar exploration.

Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with the Canadian Space Agency’s Jeremy Hansen, captured scenes of Earth, the moon and deep space that have captivated audiences worldwide. Artemis II is the second mission in NASA’s multibillion-dollar Artemis program and the first crewed venture to the lunar vicinity in more than 50 years.

Conceived as a test flight, it is designed to pave the way for landing astronauts on the moon in the years ahead and to lay groundwork for a long-term presence at the lunar south pole. The crew lifted off April 1, 2026, from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, riding NASA’s towering Space Launch System — the most powerful rocket the agency has ever launched — and boarded the Orion spacecraft for the journey.

Over the following days, Orion carried the astronauts farther from Earth than any humans have traveled, surpassing a mark set in 1970 during the Apollo 13 mission. On April 6, they flew past the moon, viewing portions of the far side in person from no closer than about 4,000 miles above the surface, including a pass at approximately 4,067 miles.

The return leg spanned four days. Using Earth’s gravity to slingshot the spacecraft home, Orion minimized the need for propulsion and fuel before descending toward the ocean. The mission concluded with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego, California, on April 10, 2026.

As the capsule reentered, it cut a bright streak across the sky before parachutes deployed to slow the final descent. Beyond the visuals, Artemis II served its purpose as a systems check for the program’s next milestones. With the crew now home, NASA is looking to build on the flight’s results as it prepares for the first human moon landing since 1972 and future operations at the lunar south pole.