This image from video provided by NASA shows the Artemis II crew, from left, Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they speak with NASA Mission Control in a video conference while en route to the moon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image provided by NASA, seen from behind the Moon during Artemis II, the Moon and Earth align in the same frame, each partially illuminated by the Sun on Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image provided by NASA, astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon on Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image from video provided by NASA shows the Artemis II crew, from left, Canadian astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and pilot Victor Glover as they speak with NASA Mission Control in a video conference while en route to the moon, Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image provided by NASA, seen from behind the Moon during Artemis II, the Moon and Earth align in the same frame, each partially illuminated by the Sun on Monday, April 6, 2026. (NASA via AP)
This image provided by NASA, astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon on Thursday, April 2, 2026. (NASA via AP)
In this image from video provided by NASA, the Artemis II Orion capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, on Friday, April 10, 2026. (NASA via AP)
Emotions ran high Friday evening at the Canadian Space Agency headquarters as Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen and his American crewmates returned from the moon, ending the first human lunar voyage in more than half a century with a successful Pacific splashdown.
Inside the John H. Chapman Space Centre in Longueuil, Que., staff and members of the media watched a livestream from NASA showing the Orion spacecraft tearing through Earth鈥檚 atmosphere, enduring intense heat and a brief communications blackout before reappearing on course for landing.聽
All eyes were on the spacecraft鈥檚 heat shield, designed to withstand temperatures of several thousand degrees during re-entry. On Orion鈥檚 previous uncrewed test flight in 2022, the shield returned heavily charred and pockmarked, adding to the tension surrounding this return.
The final minutes before landing were filled with anticipation.聽
鈥淲e鈥檙e feeling the same emotions as we did on launch day 鈥 we鈥檙e so excited,鈥 said Caroline-Emmanuelle Morisset, senior scientist in lunar and planetary science at the Canadian Space Agency. 鈥淏ut at the same time, we鈥檙e starting to get a bit jittery.鈥
The four-person crew 鈥 commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Hansen 鈥 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, aboard the capsule Integrity, which completed its descent on autopilot.
鈥淎 perfect bull鈥檚-eye splashdown,鈥 reported mission control鈥檚 Rob Navias.
A message from Canadian astronaut Jenni Gibbons, Hansen鈥檚 backup on the mission, was played at the Canadian Space Agency shortly before splashdown. She described her role as a voice link from Earth as 鈥渢he honour of my career for a really long time.鈥
Travelling at Mach 33 鈥 roughly 33 times the speed of sound 鈥 the crew鈥檚 return marked a level of speed not seen since NASA鈥檚 Apollo missions of the 1960s and '70s.
The recovery ship USS John P. Murtha awaited the crew鈥檚 arrival off the San Diego coast, along with a squadron of military planes and helicopters.
After splashdown, the crew was set to undergo initial medical checks aboard the recovery ship before being flown to NASA鈥檚 Johnson Space Center in Houston.聽
Kumudu Jinadasa, a senior engineer at the Canadian Space Agency, said the first priority is ensuring the astronauts鈥 health.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no doubt that the first thing that needs to be done is to undergo medical tests,鈥 she said.
The 10-day mission saw the astronauts loop around the moon in a six-hour flyby, travelling farther into space than any humans before and offering a close-up look at the lunar surface for the first time in decades.
Launched from Florida on April 1, the astronauts racked up one win after another as they deftly navigated NASA鈥檚 long-awaited lunar comeback, the first major step in establishing a sustainable moon base.
Under the revamped Artemis program, next year鈥檚 Artemis III will see astronauts practise docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a crew of two near the moon鈥檚 south pole in 2028.
This report by 国产诱惑福利 was first published April 10, 2026.