Artemis II’s grand moon finale is almost here with a Pacific splashdown to cap NASA’s lunar comeback

GUARDIAN MEDIA NEWSROOMJournalist at Guardian

April 10, 2026

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Artemis II’s grand moon finale is almost here with a Pacific splashdown to cap NASA’s lunar comeback

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Their dramatic grand finale fast approaching, Artemis II’s astronauts aimed for a splashdown in the Pacific on Friday to close out humanity’s first voyage to the moon in more than a half-century.

The tension in Mission Control mounted as the miles melted away between the four returning astronauts and Earth.

All eyes were on the capsule’s life-protecting heat shield that has to withstand thousands of degrees during reentry. On the spacecraft’s only other test flight — in 2022, with no one on board — the shield’s charred exterior came back looking as pockmarked as the moon.

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