Artemis II astronauts: We really wished in our soul we could for just a moment pause the world and remember that this is a beautiful planet
Integrity began its fiery descent when the spacecraft hit Earth’s atmosphere at about 24,000 miles per hour, entering a communication blackout and decelerating from friction as its heat shield reached temperatures of roughly 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mission possible: Artemis II’s record-breaking journey around Moon ends with dramatic splashdown
The triumphant moon-farers – Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen – emerged from their bobbing capsule into the sunlight off the coast of San Diego.
NASA’s Artemis II: Understanding America’s first crewed flight around the Moon since Apollo in 1972
All roads to the cosmos naturally lead through the Moon, making it ideal for NASA to test new technologies and figure out how to sustain human life far from Earth, thereby preparing for future missions to Mars and beyond, Swope wrote in a commentary on the think tank’s website.
