The long journey of the Orion capsule has ended successfully: it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California, southwest of San Diego. This concludes the Artemis II mission , which , 56 years after the flight of Apollo 8, carried a crew into lunar orbit. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen returned to Earth. The reentry was uneventful, and the parachutes that slowed the capsule deployed properly.

Artemis II "was a perfect mission ," said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman immediately after splashdown, while awaiting the arrival of the Orion capsule aboard the recovery ship. "I'm speechless, it was an incredible moment ," he added, and it was also "the result of great teamwork, including with our international partners." In this regard, Isaacman recalled the agreement recently signed with the Italian Space Agency for the construction of a module for the future lunar base. "We are building a lasting presence on the Moon," he added. As for the Artemis II astronauts, "they have proven themselves to be great professionals, great communicators, and even poets: true ambassadors of humanity." The data collected during this mission, NASA's chief administrator continued, "are invaluable for preparing for the Artemis III mission," on which, he added, work will begin on April 20 in the Vehicle Integration Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center.

The Artemis II astronauts exited the Orion capsule, aided by personnel aboard the recovery vessel , but with an unexpected twist: they did not reach the recovery vessel, but were rescued by inflatable boats that were tasked with accompanying the capsule to the ship . Securing and accompanying the capsule to the ship was not possible due to strong currents that made it difficult to stabilize the vehicle . While some medical personnel entered the shuttle to support the crew, a group of divers who arrived in inflatable boats reached the shuttle, attempting to adjust the stabilization collar, a sort of large life preserver that serves to keep the capsule balanced. Meanwhile, at NASA's control center in Houston, the flight director called back the personnel who had left. More than an hour and a half before splashdown, there was no other solution than to get the four astronauts out of the capsule and help them onto the inflatable boats. Still in the open sea, the astronauts were , which took them to the ship nearly two hours after splashdown. Victor Glove and Christina Kock were the first to emerge from their helicopter and sat for a while on the edge of the hatch. Commander Reid Wiseman and Jeremy Hansen did the same in another helicopter. Meanwhile, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman went to greet them. All four were smiling and all managed to walk, albeit unsteadily, to the ship's infirmary, where they underwent medical checks.