2
After a long 54 years, the Artemis-2 astronauts have returned to Earth following a 10-day historic journey in lunar orbit. On Saturday (April 11), at approximately 6:07 AM Bangladesh time, the four Artemis-2 astronauts safely splashed down off the coast of California, USA.
British news outlet BBC reported that the astronauts successfully re-entered the atmosphere after a routine but concerning six-minute communication blackout. This event occurred as the spacecraft made its atmospheric re-entry following its lunar orbit journey. With this, the astronauts completed their 694,481-mile (1,117,659 km) round trip to the Moon and back.
Earlier, on April 6, while orbiting the Moon, the spacecraft reached its maximum distance from Earth of 406,771 kilometers (202,756 miles), breaking the previous record for human space travel.
The four astronauts who participated in this mission are Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. Their mission is expected to pave the way for a future human presence on the Moon and potential journeys to Mars.
The BBC reported that after safely splashing down off the coast of California, NASA’s Artemis-2 mission commander Reid Wiseman commented on the capsule’s status and the health of the astronaut team, stating, “We are in a stable condition.”
Meanwhile, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman expressed excitement after the team’s successful landing, stating, “We are back to sending astronauts to the Moon and bringing them back safely. This is just the beginning.”
Source: BBC.