The Artemis II crew made it safely back to Earth – 35 responses celebrating the joy, humour and sheer optimistic humanity of it all
They’re home!
The Artemis II astronauts were all smiles on the flight deck of USS John P. Murtha after they were extracted from their Orion spacecraft after splashdown. pic.twitter.com/zajuR27pJJ
— NASA Artemis (@NASAArtemis) April 11, 2026
After 9 days, 1hr and 32min travelling around the moon and back, the four astronauts on the Artemis II touched back down on Earth off the coast of California at 5.07pm local time (1.07am British time).
Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy!
The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end. pic.twitter.com/1yjAgHEOYl
— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026
All four astronauts were said to be in good health.
HOME.
The Artemis II crew has arrived back on Earth, ending a nearly 10-day journey around the Moon. The trip took them farther into space than humans have ever gone before, and now they’re safely home with us.https://t.co/XmDQwNlCPR pic.twitter.com/Cwu312cZqJ
— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026
As befits an expedition that so captured the global public imagination, there was a strong reaction on social media to the news of the astronauts’ safe return, mixing humour, awe and genuine wonderment at what humans can achieve. Y’know, when we’re not being idiots.
1.
Big smiles from Christina and Victor on the deck of the USS John P. Murtha, as they waited to be escorted for their routine post-mission medical checks. pic.twitter.com/3KwZFXTLhI
— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026
2.
Turns out the ISS did! https://t.co/g8xaQUZBC7 pic.twitter.com/QbFy5ADM76
— Tiago Nugent, Composer (@TiagoNugent) April 11, 2026
3.
Artemis crew, starting re-entry: “And we have a great view of the moon out the window too. Looks a little smaller than yesterday :)”
Houston: “Guess we’ll have to go back :)”#ArtemisII pic.twitter.com/VXoiZql4gr— Maryne ✨ (@MaryneeLahaye) April 10, 2026
4.
Our crew on the @Space_Station caught a glimpse of the @NASAArtemis II crew as they re-entered the atmosphere from their journey to the Moon! We first saw a bright light and a trail as the service module burned up. We didn’t see the Orion capsule itself as it re-entered, but we… pic.twitter.com/4uzu3wBefB
— Chris Williams (@Astro_ChrisW) April 11, 2026
5.
Reid Wiseman: “We have a great view of the Moon out window two. Looks a little smaller than yesterday.”
CAPCOM: “Guess we’ll have to go back :)”
❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/MiKtPjiN5v
— Jenny Hautmann (@JennyHPhoto) April 11, 2026
6.
THEY SENT FOUR HUMAN BEINGS 252,756 MILES AWAY, WENT FULLY AROUND THE MOON AND BROUGHT THEM BACK TO LAND IN THE PRECISE LOCATION THEY WANTED
EVERYONE WHO WORKED ON THIS IS THE COOLEST PERSON ON EARTH
— Ryan Rosenblatt, Back to Back World Series Champ (@RyanRosenblatt) April 11, 2026
7.
AURA. pic.twitter.com/zCMce8gaky
— Joaconel. (@Joaconel) April 11, 2026
8.
astronauts in a space station watching other astronauts returning from the moon, the future is now https://t.co/tSxJioYVch
— Macroblock (@sainimatic) April 11, 2026
9.
I can’t believe millennials witnessed an entire historical event and it wasn’t a tragedy #ArtemisII
— sea hag (@air_rocka) April 11, 2026
10.
Imagine trusting science to bring astronauts to the moon and back but not trusting science to develop safe vaccines.
— Covie (@covie_93) April 11, 2026
11.
I’m irrationally proud of these people.
A real life Fantastic Four. pic.twitter.com/vZdnq9nLJk
— Paul Anleitner (@PaulAnleitner) April 11, 2026