Canadian Jeremy Hansen, Artemis II crew to splash down after historic moon trip

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen and his three American crewmates are on the homestretch of Artemis II’s historic trip to the moon.

NASA says the four-person crew and their Orion spacecraft are to splash down tonight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of San Diego, Calif., travelling at a mind-boggling 38,000 kilometres an hour.

Read more:

• LISTEN: U of R Prof shares what humans can learn from Artemis II slingshot around moon
• Artemis II astronauts make long-distance call to the space station as they head home from the moon
• Artemis II mission highlights deep space effects on astronauts’ bodies

The astronauts looped the moon this week in a six-hour lunar flyby that took them farther into space than any humans before.

Their return marks the end of a 10-day mission that saw humans examine the moon up close for the first time since the Apollo flights of the 1960s and ’70s.

Space officials say Artemis is ushering in a new era of space exploration, with hopes of planting boots on the moon by 2028.

NASA says after splashdown, the crew will be examined aboard the USS John P. Murtha before flying to Johnson Space Center in Houston.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 10, 2026.

The Canadian Press