Artemis II, like the entire program, is a mission led by NASA, the space agency of the United States. But it is also an international effort in which scientists from dozens of countries have participated. A distinctive element of this mission, moreover, is that for the first time NASA has ceded to a foreign agency the construction of a critical and capital element for the mission. The European Space Agency has built the spacecraft's Service Module. The Orion consists of the crew module (where the astronauts traveled and which has been christened by themselves as Integrity) and the European Service Module, which is responsible for supplying electricity, water, oxygen, and also propulsion to move the spacecraft. An essential part of the spacecraft that has been built by Airbus and includes a Thermal Control Unit, a very important device that regulates the temperature inside the crew capsule, which was built at the Airbus Crisa factory in Tres Cantos, Madrid.
Mission accomplished: the four Artemis II astronauts return to Earth
"A new era of human exploration begins," NASA says as it concludes the first mission to the Moon in more than 50 years
BarcelonaMission accomplished. The four Artemis II astronauts are back on Earth, after going to the Moon and returning. This historic mission, which lasted 10 days, is the first in over 50 years to take humans to the Moon, and it has made them the people who have traveled farthest from Earth in the history of humanity. At 1:53 AM, Catalan time, the Orion capsule carrying the astronauts re-entered Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 40,000 km per hour, faster than any other spacecraft before. A particularly risky maneuver, but one that has been successfully overcome.
Captain Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, specialist Christina Koch, and specialist Jeremy Hensen (from the Canadian Space Agency), are safe and sound after having had a unique experience. "A new era of human exploration begins," said Howard Hu, director of NASA's Orion program, at a press conference. "This is just the beginning of the return to the Moon," NASA administrator Jared Isaacman had also remarked shortly before.
). The ship fell into the water off the coast of San Diego (California) at the planned time, at 2:07 AM Catalan time.
splashdown). The ship fell into the water off the coast of San Diego (California) at the planned time, at 2:07 AM Catalan time.
![Crew members Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, Reid Wiseman, and Victor Glover are extracted from the Artemis II capsule by recovery personnel in the Pacific Ocean.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 3828 2114"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
About an hour and a half later, to allow time for cooling and shutting down all capsule systems, the four astronauts were extracted into an inflatable boat (called a front porch), from which they were hoisted to two military helicopters that took them to an aircraft carrier, where the first medical checks were performed. Glover and Koch appeared exultant and happy before the cameras as they disembarked from their helicopter on the deck of the aircraft carrier, and shortly thereafter the medical team confirmed the good condition of the four: "They feel great".
The return to Earth early this morning was the most dangerous moment of the mission. Orion's heat shield had been tested on Artemis I (uncrewed) and did not perform as well as expected: some pieces of material detached during entry. This led to a change in the Earth entry trajectory; instead of a "skip reentry" as that first spacecraft did, Artemis II entered directly, at a steeper angle, and reached the highest speed ever attained by a crewed spacecraft entering Earth (the record was held by Apollo 9 at 39,000 km/h, and returns from the International Space Station typically enter at around 27,000 km/h). But it was finally achieved successfully: "It was a textbook reentry," NASA said when it was over.
"We are the Artemis generation"
Thus concludes a historic mission that has managed to take human beings to the Moon for the first time since 1972. "This was a systems test mission, one more step in a longer journey that must lead to a continuous human presence in space," explained to ARA the director of the Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia (IEEC) and professor of physics at the UB, Xavier Luri.
"This mission is many firsts," also summarizes engineer Andrea Jaime, scientist of the reserve crew on the Hipàtia 3 mission, which simulates life on Mars. "For the first time, a woman has traveled beyond low Earth orbit (Christina Koch) and for the first time there was also a woman as launch director (Charlie Blackwell-Thompson), in command of the control room, unlike the Apollo missions where only men were in this room." Also for the first time a Black man (Glover) and a Canadian (Hensen) have left Earth orbit: let's remember that until now only 24 astronauts from the Apollo missions had reached this far, all of them white men from the United States.
"As someone who did not live during the Apollo generation, I believe that we are now the Artemis generation and that we are living a historic milestone, even though many other news from the international context are overshadowing it," says Andrea Jaime.
![Crowds celebrate as the Artemis II Orion capsule lands at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 5088 3392"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The four crew members of Artemis II are now the humans who have traveled farthest from Earth in history. On April 6, they reached a distance of 406,771 kilometers, surpassing the record of 400,171 km held by Apollo 13 (1970). Just after exceeding that record, they performed the spectacular flyby: flying over the far side of the Moon. "They didn't enter lunar orbit, but rather entered the Moon's gravitational sphere of influence, without being captured," explains Luri, and using the gravitational forces of Earth and the Moon, they gained momentum to return to our planet, "unlike the Apollo missions which had a thruster" to orbit the Moon and then leave that orbit to return to Earth.
The observation of the far side of the Moon – which has provided us with spectacular images – was not an unprecedented event; Apollo astronauts had already been able to observe this part and had also seen the Earthrise from behind the Moon. Robotic probes have flown over various areas of the Moon in recent years to collect data, and China even managed to land a probe on this far side of the Moon in June 2024. "The only difference is that in this mission, photography and live transmission of images have improved immensely, and the astronauts even had their mobile phones," recalls Luri. The "glows" or flashes of light they could see on the lunar surface during the 41 minutes of silence – with no communication with Earth due to the Moon's blockage – are also not scientifically relevant: it was already known that the lunar surface is constantly subjected to meteorite impacts because it has no atmosphere to protect it.
So, what was the purpose of this mission to the Moon? "Apollo was about surviving in space, now Artemis wants to study how to live in space," summarizes the Valencian engineer from l'Hipàtia. The objective was to test the new technologies that are to make life outside of Earth "comfortable and sustainable," which includes measuring how the body reacts to the high levels of radiation in space. It was, as Isaacman said, "just the beginning of the return to the Moon." The next step will be Artemis III, which will conduct docking tests of the Orion and other tests. In early 2028, it will be the Artemis IV mission that will once again take humans to set foot on the Moon, according to Isaacman's plans. The ultimate goal is to build a permanent base on our satellite. And that won't be the end either. "The interest in the Moon is as a stepping stone to explore the solar system - points out Xavier Luri - that is the key to the Artemis program".
