SpaceNews.comMichelle Buckner

Artemis II splashes down with first crewed lunar return in over 50 years; NASA turns to Artemis III/IV as China-US race accelera

NASA’s Orion capsule carrying Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen has splashed down in the Pacific, completing Artemis II’s crewed lunar flyby. Attention now shifts to Artemis III and IV, where NASA must close remaining mission risks while the U.S. and China target crewed Moon landings before the decade’s end.

2026-04-27T06:20:22.151608-07:00