The Unite States National Aeronautic Space Administration (NASA) last week celebrated the successful mission around the Moon on its Artemis II. The 10-day crewed mission flew four astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth, marking a historic first lunar flyby in more than 50 years.
The NASA spacecraft carrying four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — splashed down without a hitch off the California coast, capping the US space agency’s crewed test mission that returned with spectacular images of the Moon. Elated commander Reid Wiseman, who reported the voyage with a screamer, “What a journey!” said mission the crewmembers — himself along with Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen — were “stable” and “green.”
“They’re in great condition, that’s what that means,” said Rob Navias, the NASA public affairs official who narrated their return on the agency’s livestream. Following an expected but nerve-wracking communications blackout during their high-stakes reentry, Mr. Wiseman’s voice triggered relief that the astronauts were well on their way back home.
“We have you loud and clear,” he said following a voice check from mission control in Houston. NASA personnel and the US military helped extract the astronauts from the bobbing capsule — to the applause of those watching from mission control.
Helicopters had lifted the astronauts by late Friday to a recovery ship off the Pacific coast near San Diego, where they all proved capable of walking unassisted. NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman called the voyage “a perfect mission.” “We’re back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon,” he said, and “this is just the beginning.”
Congratulating the astronauts, President Donald Trump praised them for their “spectacular” trip, noting that he “could not be more proud” — while wasting no time in looking ahead to the eventual goal of sending missions even further into space. “Next step, Mars!” he wrote on social media. As the astronauts returned to Earth their spacecraft reached maximum speeds more than 30 times the speed of sound, and faced searing temperatures around half as hot as the surface of the Sun.
It was a key test of their heat shield, which in an earlier trial uncrewed mission had faced complications that they attempted to mitigate this time around by shifting the return trajectory. “If you didn’t have anxiety bringing this spacecraft home, you probably didn’t have a pulse,” said the flight director, Rick Henfling. While the Artemis II reentry went off without a hitch, the Orion capsule will now be painstakingly examined to assess how it fared.
Artemis II was the inaugural crewed mission of NASA’s program aiming to install a sustained presence on the Moon, including the eventual construction of a base that could be used for further exploration including to Mars. From liftoff to splashdown, the trip clocked in at nine days, one hour, 31 minutes and 35 seconds — though NASA rounds up and calls it a 10-day mission.
It began with a dramatic launch from Florida on April 1, and was studded with firsts, records and extraordinary moments. The four astronauts become the first humans to travel furthest away from the Earth, at 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometres). While hurtling through deep space and zipping around the Moon they took thousands of photographs, amassing a stunning portfolio of images that captivated people on Earth.
They also witnessed a solar eclipse along with extraordinary meteorite strikes on the lunar surface. Several achievements added to the voyage’s historic nature: Mr. Glover was the first person of colour to fly around the Moon, Ms. Koch was the first woman, and Canadian Hansen the first non-American. Astronomer Derek Buzasi of the University of Chicago called the mission “an almost flawless success.”
“I admit to having had my doubts about the Artemis program, but now I have fresh confidence in our next steps as we go back to the Moon to stay,” he told AFP. NASA is hoping it can put boots on the lunar surface as soon as 2028 — the final full year of Trump’s second White House term. Experts, however, have voiced skepticism that the lunar landers being developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin, companies owned by billionaires entrepreneurs, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, respectively, will be ready in time.
Meanwhile, China is forging ahead with its own effort targeting 2030 to put astronauts on the Moon. In the meantime, NASA is hoping to capitalise on the Artemis II mission’s success to drum up excitement about space exploration.
