The astronauts from the Artemis 2 space mission have safely returned to Earth. Their Orion capsule landed in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday. Reports indicate that the four astronauts are unharmed.
The Artemis 2 mission launched on April 1st, marking the first crewed lunar flight since Apollo 17 in 1972. While the surface of the Moon was not visited, the spacecraft successfully orbited it. This mission served as a crucial, crewed test flight for both the Orion spacecraft and its booster, the Space Launch System (SLS).
The primary goal of Artemis 2 was to verify all systems and procedures necessary for future human lunar missions under real flight conditions. During this, they tested navigation, communication, life support, propulsion, thermal protection, approach maneuvers, as well as the procedures for launch, flight, reentry, and the recovery of the capsule. Additionally, data on radiation, stress loads, acoustics, and thermal environments were gathered.
Notably, the Artemis 2 crew set a new record for the greatest distance from Earth ever reached by humans, passing the record set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970 by approximately 6,600 kilometers, reaching a distance of 406,765 kilometers.
