Start of a new space age as Artemis II crew make history with fireball reentry

Start of a new space age as Artemis II crew make history with fireball reentryThousands watched the nail-biting return to Earth for the four crew members during a perilous landing which saw them lose contact with mission control for six minutesNewsSaskia Rowlands News Reporter16:22, 11 Apr 2026View 10 ImagesThe splashdown was hailed as a 'perfect bullseye splashdown'(Image: NASA via Getty Images)From a dramatic lift-off to a “bulls-eye” landing it’s been the trip of a lifetime for Artemis II’s four-person crew who completed history yesterday after a successful splashdown.‌Their first words after checking in with mission control after a re-entry 32 times faster than the speed of sound were, “What a journey.”‌The Mach 32 fiery descent had not been not witnessed since NASA’s Apollo lunar missions of the 1960s and 1970s and drew crowds to watch history in the making.‌Hundreds gathered at a watch party at the Air and Space Museum in San Diego close to the landing site, while thousands more watched on TV and Netflix.Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen travelled deeper into space than any other humans have ever done before.View 10 ImagesNASA astronaut Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot is assisted off the flight deck after arriving aboard USS John P Murtha(Image: NASA via Getty Images)‌READ MORE: Artemis 2 astronauts to splashdown wearing gravity suits in 2,700C heatREAD MORE: The jaw-dropping speed Artemis II will splash down to Earth is hard to fathomThey were said to be ‘happy and healthy’ as they were helped from the Orion capsule onto an inflatable having splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after a 10-day journey.Orion’s three main parachutes deployed slowing the spacecraft to less than 200 feet (61m) per second before they hit the water at speeds of 17mph..The crew landed right on schedule and within a mile of its target. “A perfect bull’s-eye splashdown,” reported Mission Control’s Rob Navias. Th...