Nasa astronauts have landed safely back on Earth following their record-breaking lunar fly-by which marks a stepping stone towards a future moon landing and eventual Mars mission.
The Artemis II crew splashed down off the coast of San Diego in California at 1.07am UK time and Nasa said the four crew members – Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Jeremy Hansen – were healthy.
Mission Control’s Rob Navias described their return as “a perfect bullseye splashdown”.
During re-entry, their Orion capsule was expected to hit the atmosphere at around 24,000mph (38,625kph), or about 32 times the speed of sound.
In a critical test for the spacecraft’s heat shield, temperatures outside were set to soar to as high as 2,760 degrees.
Following a previous test flight, engineers had altered the descent trajectory in order to reduce the risk of the module burning up.
Nasa astronaut and pilot Victor Glover and astronaut Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist smiling upon return to Earth. Photograph: NASA/Bill Ingalls
The intensity of the return meant contact with the crew was cut off for several minutes, prior to the deployment of parachutes eventually slowing the capsule’s fall to just 17mph (27kph) before hitting the water.
Cheers erupted from the crew’s families watching in Mission Control in Houston when the capsule emerged from the communication blackout and at splashdown.
Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, gives flight surgeon Richard Scheuring a hug on the flight deck. Photograph: NASA/Bill Ingalls 
CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist is assisted off the flight deck. Photograph: NASA/Bill Ingalls
More than an hour after landing in the Pacific Ocean, the four crew members emerged from the capsule ahead of being taken to the nearby naval ship USS John P Murtha by helicopter.
Refusing the wheelchairs offered to them, the astronauts walked across the deck and after undergoing initial medical checks on board, they were expected to return to Johnson Space Centre in Houston on Saturday.
Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, is seen on the flight deck upon the astronauts’ return. Photograph: NASA/Bill Ingalls 
Nasa astronaut Reid Wiseman, Artemis II commander, left, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II mission specialist, after being extracted from their Orion spacecraft. Photograph: NASA/Bill Ingalls
Speaking from the ship, Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman said: “This is just the beginning.
“We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon, bringing them back safely and to set up for a series.”
US president Donald Trump said on Truth Social the “entire trip was spectacular”, while Canadian prime minister Mark Carney congratulated the crew on “a historic feat”.
Nasa associate administrator Amit Kshatriya said the craft’s systems had “performed as designed”.
He said: “This moment belongs to the thousands of people across 14 countries who built, tested, and trusted this vehicle.
“Artemis II proved the vehicle, the teams, the architecture, and the international partnership that will return humanity to the lunar surface.
Nasa astronaut Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot, and Nasa astronaut Christina Koch, Artemis II mission specialist, talk with Jared Isaacman upon their return. Photograph: NASA/Bill Ingalls
“Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy carried the hopes of this world farther than humans have travelled in more than half a century.
“Fifty‑three years ago, humanity left the Moon. This time, we returned to stay. The future is ours to win.”
Their epic voyage took them around the far side of the moon, normally hidden to the human eye, which included a 40-minute communication blackout when they were cut off entirely from their home planet.
Alongside their other duties, it provided the opportunity for the team to take some spectacular pictures of the moon and Earth, including a total solar eclipse.
The agency is seeking to return a crew to the lunar surface by 2028, before China does in about 2030. – PA