Artemis II video shows Navy team opening hatch to welcome astronauts

A Navy medical team opened the Orion module hatch and welcomed the Artemis II crew after their Pacific splashdown, and commander Reid Wiseman shared video of the moment on X. The four astronauts were taken aboard the USS John P. Murtha for medical evaluation after a 10-day lunar mission.

New video shows a Navy medical team opening the Orion module hatch to welcome the Artemis II astronauts after their splashdown in the Pacific. The clip was shared on X by commander Reid Wiseman. The crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—returned from a 10-day mission that took them farther from Earth than previous crews. After extraction, the astronauts were taken aboard the USS John P. Murtha for postflight medical evaluation. Key details: - The splashdown occurred in the Pacific on Friday, and video captures the moment a recovery team opened the hatch off the coast of San Diego. - Two members of the Navy medical team entered the Orion module and exchanged fist bumps with the crew before helping them out. - The Orion spacecraft was reported to have traveled about 252,000 miles from Earth during the mission. - During reentry, the capsule reached roughly 25,000 mph and slowed using an 11-parachute sequence before landing about 60 miles off the coast at about 5:07 p.m. local time. - External temperatures during reentry were reported as high as about 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Summary: The video highlights the recovery and human welcome that followed a record-setting distance flight and safe ocean landing. Upcoming Artemis missions are planned to continue test and docking activities, with Artemis III scheduled for next year and Artemis IV currently planned for 2028.