'Proud American today!' - Cheers, applause and patriotism as Artemis II crew splashes down

Hundreds gathered at the San Diego Air & Space Museum to witness the splashdown of NASA’s Artemis II Orion capsule after nearly 10 days in space, erupting in cheers as it returned safely to Earth. The mission marked the first crewed test flight of the Artemis II mission, completing a lunar flyby and Pacific Ocean landing as part of NASA’s plan to return astronauts to the Moon by 2028.

Arafat Barbakh, Minwoo Park/Reuters

11 April 2026 at 04:00:27

Crowds watch the Artemis II Orion capsule splash down off the coast of San Diego at the Air and Space Museum in San Diego, California, U.S., April 10, 2026.

Sandy Huffaker/Reuters

Hundreds of people packed the San Diego Air & Space Museum on Friday (April 10) to watch the Artemis II splashed down in the Pacific Ocean after nearly 10 days in space.

People were seen erupting into cheers and applause as NASA's gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule parachuted gently into calm seas off the Southern California coast.

The Artemis II flight, traveling a total of 694,392 miles (1,117,515 km) in two Earth orbits and a climactic lunar flyby, was the debut crewed test flight in a series of Artemis missions that aim to return astronauts to the lunar surface starting in 2028.

The splashdown, under partly cloudy skies about two hours before sunset, was carried by live video feed in a NASA webcast. "A perfect bull's eye splashdown for Integrity and its four astronauts," NASA commentator Rob Navias said moments after the landing.

-Arafat Barbakh, Minwoo Park/Reuters

Hundreds gathered at the San Diego Air & Space Museum to witness the successful Pacific Ocean splashdown of NASA’s Orion capsule from the Artemis II mission, drawing cheers as the crewed spacecraft returned after nearly 10 days in space. The mission—part of NASA’s Artemis II program—completed a historic lunar flyby and marks a key step toward returning astronauts to the Moon in 2028.