Astronauts aboard Artemis II have safely returned to Earth after completing a 10-day mission around the Moon, marking a major milestone in global space exploration.
The crew, traveling in the Orion spacecraft, splashed down in the ocean following a successful journey that took them beyond low-Earth orbit and around the Moon before returning home.
The mission represents the first crewed deep-space flight since the era of the Apollo program, signaling a renewed push by NASA and its partners to explore the Moon and beyond.
During the mission, the astronauts conducted a lunar flyby while testing critical onboard systems, including navigation, communication, and life-support technologies required for future long-duration space missions.
NASA officials confirmed that the crew members were in good condition after the splashdown, with recovery teams quickly securing the capsule and transporting the astronauts for routine medical checks.
The success of Artemis II is seen as a key step toward Artemis III, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time in more than five decades.
The Artemis programme is designed to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and lay the groundwork for future exploration missions to Mars.
Further details on the mission are expected to be released by NASA as analysis of flight data continues.