Artemis II astronauts leave Orion capsule for first time in 10 DAYS

After 10 days and a history-making mission to the Moon, the four astronauts aboard Artemis II returned to Earth Friday night, ending their journey with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen hit the atmosphere traveling Mach 33, or 33 times the speed of sound, a blistering blur not seen since NASA’s Apollo moonshots of the 1960s and 1970s. Their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, made the plunge on autopilot.

The tension in Mission Control mounted as the capsule became engulfed in red-hot plasma during peak heating and entered a planned communication blackout.

After splashdown, the crew was seen leaving the capsule and getting some fresh air.

#NASA #artemisII #astronauts #spacetravel #safe

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