In this photo provided by NASA, Artemis II mission specialist and NASA astronaut Christina Koch hugs the Orion spacecraft aboard the USS John P. Murtha, Saturday, April 11, 2026, off the coast of California. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
This photo provided by the U.S. Navy shows the Orion spacecraft's heat shield underwater after Artemis II splashed down Friday, April 10, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP
Crew members of the USS John P. Murtha join NASA and U.S. Navy officials as they gather in front of the Artemis II capsule in the bay area before docking at Naval Base San Diego, Saturday, April 11, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
People gather around NASA's Artemis II capsule aboard the USS John P. Murtha at Naval Base San Diego Saturday, April 11, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
This photo provided by NASA shows the Orion spacecraft arriving at the Kennedy Space Center Multi Payload Processing Facility in Merritt Island, Fla., Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Tiffany Fairley/NASA via AP)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The spacecraft that flew four astronauts around the moon is back where its record-breaking journey began.
NASA’s Artemis II capsule returned to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, almost a month after on humanity’s first lunar trip in more than a half-century.
Following its splashdown in the Pacific on April 10, the Orion capsule was trucked from San Diego to Cape Canaveral. Engineers will examine the capsule’s heat shield in more detail along with everything else in preparation for next year's in orbit around Earth. The capsule's electronic boxes will be removed and recycled, along with research equipment.
The capsule, dubbed Integrity by its U.S.-ɫtv crew, carried astronauts than humans have ever traveled before. Aside from a , the capsule appeared to during the nearly 10-day voyage, according to NASA.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen are finally getting a break after medical exams and other tests that followed their mission.
“Been waiting for this moment,” Wiseman said via X late last week, posting a video of himself relaxing on the beach. “There is a lot in my head that I must process and very little has to do with leaving the planet. Today is my first step. I have never in my life felt peace like this.”
Until Artemis II, astronauts had not flown to the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972.
Artemis III will feature a fresh capsule and crew. They will remain in orbit around Earth for docking exercises with lunar landers still in development by SpaceX and Blue Origin. That will set the stage for a moon landing by two new astronauts as early as 2028.
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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.
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