{"id":603000,"date":"2026-04-14T08:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/603000\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T08:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T08:15:10","slug":"artemis-ii-pioneers-return-from-lunar-flyby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/603000\/","title":{"rendered":"Artemis II pioneers return from lunar flyby"},"content":{"rendered":"

The four astronauts on NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission returned safely to Earth April 10, completing a flight around the moon with technological achievements that will propel future exploration.<\/p>\n

NASA\u2019s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency\u2019s Jeremy Hansen flew\u00a0the first crewed lunar mission<\/a>\u00a0since the end of the Apollo program in 1972. President Trump has made space exploration a priority for the United States. During his first administration, he supported the\u00a0Artemis Accords\u00a0<\/a>, a nonbinding set of principles to guide civil space exploration. Sixty-one nations have now signed the accords.<\/p>\n

The astronauts\u2019 observations and groundbreaking images of the lunar landscape will inform NASA\u2019s plans to build a moon base and eventually send astronauts to Mars in future Artemis missions.<\/p>\n

\"Earth<\/p>\n

The Earth is seen setting beyond the lunar surface during the Artemis II mission April 6. (NASA)<\/p>\n

The Orion capsule of the Artemis II mission splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego Friday evening,\u00a0having proven that the spacecraft is capable of flying astronauts to the moon and back and paving the way for future missions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a relay race,\u201d Koch said, noting that she and her fellow astronauts on the mission carried actual relay batons \u2014 the kind used in a track meet \u2014 which they will pass off to Artemis III astronauts. In 2027, Artemis III will test the space capsule\u2019s interoperability with lunar landers, ahead of a planned 2028 moon landing of Artemis IV.<\/p>\n

A pioneering mission<\/p>\n

The Artemis II crew\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0set a record for the farthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth at 406,771 kilometers (252,756 miles), beating the Apollo missions\u2019 previous record.<\/p>\n

The astronauts made detailed and awe-inspiring observations of the moon\u2019s dark side. \u201cWe have seen just some extraordinary things,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cThings that I thought we might see \u2026 and other things that I just had never even imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

They studied the moon\u2019s craters and noted colors they could see with the naked eye, providing insights into the moon\u2019s topography.<\/p>\n

And they took rare photos of an eclipse from space. \u201cIt just blew us all away,\u201d said Glover, the mission\u2019s pilot. \u201cIt was one of the greatest gifts of that part of the mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

While they collected more data than they could transmit during the flight, Glover said, \u201cAll the good stuff is coming back with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Earth<\/p>\n

The Artemis II crew\u2019s many observations include a rare view of a solar eclipse from space. (NASA) <\/p>\n

On April 7, the astronauts fielded a call from the president. \u201cOne of the biggest highlights was coming back from the far side of the Moon and having the first glimpses of planet Earth again,\u201d Koch said on the call. \u201cIt really just reminds you what a special place we have and how important it is for our nation to \u2026 lead and not follow in exploring deep space.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president, calling them an inspiration to the entire world, said, \u201cYou really are modern-day pioneers, all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The four astronauts on NASA\u2019s Artemis II mission returned safely to Earth April 10, completing a flight around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":603001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,166425,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-603000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-news-and-events","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}