'Welcome home, Artemis': Crew celebrates historic 10-day moon mission

After their historic lunar flyby, the crew safely splashed down in the Pacific.

ByMary Kekatos, Julia Jacobo, Leah Sarnoff, Ivan Pereira, and Meredith Deliso
Last Updated: April 11, 2026, 5:12 PM EDT

NASA's Artemis II mission lifted off on April 1 at 6:35 p.m. ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The four-person crew completed a 695,081-mile, 10-day journey around the moon, also known as a lunar fly-by.

A "textbook" splashdown took place at 8:07 p.m. ET on Friday, April 10.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Apr 01, 2026, 5:38 PM EDT

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says Artemis II mission 'critically important'

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Artemis II moon mission is "critically important" a few hours ahead of the scheduled launch.

"This is a moment that brings the country together," Duffy told Gio Benitez on ABC News Live.

"The technology, the time, the effort that has gone into making today possible is so cool," he added.

Duffy said the U.S. is in a race against China to get to the moon's South Pole. Currently, Artemis III is planned for 2028, while China’s space program is gearing up for a moon landing by 2030.

"There was a time that the adage was, ‘He who controls the seas controls the world.' Now it is, 'He who will control space will control the world,'" Duffy said. “We have to win. This is critically important."

Apr 01, 2026, 5:22 PM EDT

NASA resolves flight termination issue, closes second hatch

NASA said it has resolved the Flight Termination System issue, adding it is "no longer a constraint" and is proceeding with countdown operations.

The issue affected the rocket, not the Orion spacecraft. The FTS is a signal to blow the rocket up if it starts heading in a direction that would endanger lives.

The Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft at Launch Complex 39B ahead of the mission launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., April 1, 2026.
Steve Nesius/Reuters

Orion would have separated from the rocket safely, and the rocket would be issued a command to self-destruct.

Additionally, the Launch Abort System hatch is now also closed. The closeout crew successfully closed both hatches on Orion, concluding the hatch preparation and closure phase of launch operations.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado and Gio Benitez

Apr 01, 2026, 5:16 PM EDT

Trump calls NASA administrator to 'wish everyone luck'

President Donald Trump called NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman Wednesday afternoon to "wish everyone luck this evening" ahead of the Artemis II launch, according to a post by one of Trump's top advisers.

"We will all be watching, along with the rest of the world," Dan Scavino, an assistant to the president and one of Trump's top aides, added in the post on X.

-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart

Apr 01, 2026, 4:48 PM EDT

NASA troubleshooting Artemis II issue

NASA is troubleshooting an issue with the flight termination system (FTS), a critical safety component.

The FTS is designed to safely stop the rocket if it veers off its planned path, to protect people or property on the ground.

To help fix the issue, the team is bringing in a piece of hardware that was originally used on Space Shuttle missions.

-ABC News' Matthew Glasser and Briana Alvarado

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