Artemis: 1) Artemis II astronauts return from moon with a splashdown to close out a record-breaking lunar voyage; 2) Updated – (Video) Jeremy Hansen challenges future generations to break new Artemis record; 3) Artemis astronauts field more final frontier questions from Canadian kids

1. Artemis II astronauts return from moon with a splashdown to close out a record-breaking lunar voyage

Courtesy The Associated Press

By Marcia Dunn, April 10, 2026

Artemis II’s astronauts returned from the moon with a dramatic splashdown in the Pacific on Friday to close out humanity’s first lunar voyage in more than a half-century.

It was a triumphant homecoming for the crew of four whose record-breaking lunar flyby revealed not only swaths of the moon’s far side — never seen before by human eyes — but a total solar eclipse.

Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen hit the atmosphere traveling Mach 33 — or 33 times the speed of sound — a blistering blur not seen since NASA’s Apollo moonshots of the 1960s and 1970s. Their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, made the plunge on automatic pilot.

The tension in Mission Control mounted as the capsule became engulfed in red-hot plasma during peak heating and entered a planned communication blackout.

All eyes were on the capsule’s life-protecting heat shield that had to withstand thousands of degrees during re-entry. 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.

Like so many others, lead flight director Jeff Radigan anticipated feeling some of that “irrational fear that is human nature,” especially during the six-minute blackout that preceded the opening of the parachutes. The recovery ship USS John P. Murtha awaited the crew’s arrival off the San Diego coast, along with a squadron of military planes and helicopters.

The last time NASA and the Defense Department teamed up for a lunar crew’s re-entry was Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II was projected to come screaming back at 36,170 feet (11,025 meters) per second — or 24,661 mph (39,668 kph) — just shy of the record before slowing to a 19 mph (30 kph) splashdown.

“A perfect bull’s-eye splashdown,” reported Mission Control’s Rob Navias.

Artemis II’s record flyby and views of the moon

Launched from Florida on April 1, the astronauts racked up one win after another as they deftly navigated NASA’s long-awaited lunar comeback, the first major step in establishing a sustainable moon base.

Artemis II didn’t land on the moon or even orbit it. But it broke Apollo 13’s distance record and marked the farthest that humans have ever journeyed from Earth when the crew reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers). Then in the mission’s most heart-tugging scene, the teary astronauts asked permission to name a pair of craters after their moonship and Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.

During Monday’s record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes of the moon’s far side never seen before by the human eye along with a total solar eclipse. The eclipse, in particular, “just blew all of us away,” Glover said.

Their sense of wonder and love awed everyone, as did their breathtaking pictures of the moon and Earth. The Artemis II crew channeled Apollo 8’s first lunar explorers with Earthset, showing our Blue Marble setting behind the gray moon. It was reminiscent of Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968.

“It just makes you want to continue to go back,” Radigan said on the eve of splashdown. “It’s the first of many trips and we just need to continue on because there’s so much” more to learn about the moon.

Their moonshot drew global attention as well as star power, earning props from President Donald Trump; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; Britain’s King Charles III; Ryan Gosling, star of the latest space flick “Project Hail Mary”; Scarlett Johansson of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and even Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner of TV’s original “Star Trek.”

Artemis II was a test flight for future moon missions

Despite its rich scientific yield, the nearly 10-day flight was not without technical issues. Both the capsule’s drinking water and propellant systems were hit with valve problems. In perhaps the most high-profile predicament, the toilet kept malfunctioning, but the astronauts shrugged it all off.

“We can’t explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient,” Koch said, “unless we’re making a few sacrifices, unless we’re taking a few risks, and those things are all worth it.”

Added Hansen: “You do a lot of testing on the ground, but your final test is when you get this hardware to space and it’s a doozy.”

Under the revamped Artemis program, next year’s Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a crew of two near the moon’s south pole in 2028.

The Artemis II astronauts’ allegiance was to those future crews, Wiseman said.

“But we really hoped in our soul is that we could for just for a moment have the world pause and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and we should all cherish what we have been gifted,” he said.

___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

1. Updated – (Video) Jeremy Hansen challenges future generations to break new Artemis record

Courtesy Barrie360.com and The Associated Press

By Canadian Press, April 6, 2026

As the Artemis II astronauts set a new record for being the farthest humans from Earth during a lunar flyby, Canadian Jeremy Hansen said they hoped others would soon go even farther.

The six-hour flyby is the highlight of NASA’s first return to the moon since the Apollo era with three Americans and one Canadian — a step toward landing boot prints near the moon’s south pole in just two years.

“It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the moon right now. It is just unbelievable,” Hansen radioed ahead of the flyby. “We most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.”

Less than an hour before kicking off the fly-around and intense lunar observations, the four astronauts surpassed the distance record of 400,171 kilometres set by Apollo 13 in April 1970.

They kept going, hurtling ever farther from Earth. Before it was all over, Mission Control expected Artemis II to beat the old record by more than 6,600 km.

The astronauts woke up to the voice of Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell, who recorded the message just two months before his death last August. “Welcome to my old neighbourhood,” said Lovell, who also flew on Apollo 8, humanity’s first lunar visit. “It’s a historic day and I know how busy you’ll be, but don’t forget to enjoy the view.”

They took up with them the Apollo 8 silk patch that accompanied Lovell to the moon and showed it off as the crucial flyby approached. “It’s just a real honour to have that on board with us,” said commander Reid Wiseman. “Let’s go have a great day.”

Artemis II is using the same manoeuvre that Apollo 13 did after its “Houston, we’ve had a problem” oxygen tank explosion wiped out any hope of a moon landing.

Known as a free-return lunar trajectory, this no-stopping-to-land route takes advantage of Earth and the moon’s gravity, reducing the need for fuel. It’s a celestial figure-eight that will put the astronauts on course for home, once they emerge from behind the moon Monday evening.

Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Hansen were on track to pass as close as 6,550 km to the moon, as their Orion capsule whips past it, hangs a U-turn and then heads back toward Earth. It will take them four days to get back, with a splashdown in the Pacific concluding their test flight on Friday.

Their expected speed at closest approach to the moon: 5,052 km/h.

Wiseman and his crew spent years studying lunar geography to prepare for the big event, adding solar eclipses to their repertoire during the past few weeks. By launching last Wednesday, they ensured themselves of a total solar eclipse from their vantage point behind the moon, courtesy of the cosmos.

Topping their science target list: Orientale Basin, a sprawling impact basin with three concentric rings, the outermost of which stretches nearly 950 km across.

Other sightseeing goals: the Apollo 12 and 14 landing sites from 1969 and 1971, respectively, as well as fringes of the south polar region, the preferred locale for future touchdowns. Farther afield, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn — not to mention Earth — will be visible.

Their moon mentor, NASA geologist Kelsey Young, expects thousands of pictures.

“People all over the world connect with the moon. This is something that every single person on this planet can understand and connect with,” she said on the eve of the flyby, wearing eclipse earrings.

Artemis II is NASA’s first astronaut moon mission since Apollo 17 in 1972. It sets the stage for next year’s Artemis III, which will see another Orion crew practice docking with lunar landers in orbit around Earth. The culminating moon landing by two astronauts near the moon’s south pole will follow on Artemis IV in 2028.

While Artemis II may be taking Apollo 13’s path, it’s most reminiscent of Apollo 8 and humanity’s first lunar visitors who orbited the moon on Christmas Eve 1968 and read from the Book of Genesis.

Glover said flying to the moon during Christianity’s Holy Week brought home for him “the beauty of creation.” Earth is an oasis amid “a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe” where humanity exists as one, he observed over the weekend.

“This is an opportunity for us to remember where we are, who we are, and that we are the same thing and that we’ve got to get through this together,” Glover said, clasping hands with his crewmates.

— With files from Charlotte Glorieux in Longueuil, Que., and The Associated Press

• Artemis astronauts field more final frontier questions from Canadian kids

Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press

By Aaron Sousa, April 5, 2026.

Jeremy Hansen, just days away from becoming the first Canadian astronaut to circle the moon as part of the Artemis II mission, gave the country yet another glimpse into life on the final frontier.

Hansen, along with American astronauts Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch, took part in a live question-and-answer session early Sunday from aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft to answer questions submitted by Canadian kids.

The virtual event, the second of its kind, took place about four days into the 10-day lunar flyby mission. 

One youth asked how food is prepared and eaten in space, while another wanted Hansen to pick a movie that best reflects what it’s like in space. Hansen responded with 1995’s “Apollo 13” starring Tom Hanks — save for its disastrous chain of events.

“That movie really shows you a lot what it’s like with just three humans trapped in a tiny capsule and surviving in space together,” the 50-year-old from Ontario said. “It’s one of my favourite space movies.”

Ahead of the Q-and-A, NASA announced on social media that the four astronauts were officially “moonbound” and were more than halfway there. The space agency also shared two photos of the moon, and one of the inside of the Orion capsule. 

Artemis II is the first crewed mission to the moon since the Apollo flights of the 1960s and ’70s. It had been delayed a few times since February due to hydrogen fuel leaks and helium flow problems.

During Sunday’s event, one youth asked how human organs behave in microgravity.

Hansen said he doesn’t notice much of a difference, but he can feel the blood shifting from one part of his body to another.

“I’m sure my face is a lot (more) puffy now because there’s a lot more blood up in my upper regions of my body, because gravity is not constantly pulling it down,” he said. 

“I can just sort of feel it in my head … It’s not bad. But it’s just slightly different.”

Koch said when astronauts spend a lot of time in microgravity, organs adapt to the environment. The heart doesn’t work as hard to pump blood to the brain. Due to the loss of gravity, she also said there’s risk of kidney disease.

Hansen was also asked whether the crew sees a crescent-shaped Earth, as those on the ground sometimes see a crescent moon in the night sky.

“The reality is we do,” he said. “We’ve seen a half-Earth, partial crescent Earth, we’ve seen a dark Earth.”

The four-person crew is expected to do a lunar flyby on Day 6 of the mission. They will zip around the moon in their capsule — about the size of a campervan — before coming home.

The Canadian Space Agency says that on arrival at the moon, the crew will spend several hours observing and photographing its surface to help scientists understand the geologic processes that shaped it and the solar system.

At its closest, the moon will be about the size of a basketball held at arm’s length.

Hansen said there’s been a lot of personal give-and-take on this mission. His family, he said, has had to give him some grace and make some sacrifices. 

“Sometimes with this job, I can’t be there for them when they would like me to be there,” he said. “There’s a lot of sacrifice from the family, and so they’ve definitely done that for me, and they’ve been my greatest cheerleaders along the way.”

Asked in French what role young people play in the future of space exploration, Hansen said it’s “necessary that the next generation contributes to our future.”

“When there is something that interests you, learn as much as possible and also share this dream, this goal, with others and form a team, and you can do important things for humanity,” he said.

The capsule and its crew are expected to splash down April 10 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego.