New Artemis II video shows moment Navy medical team opened hatch, welcomed astronauts
New video shows the moment that the Artemis II astronauts were welcomed back to Earth as a Navy medical team opened the hatch to their Orion module after the crew splashed down safely in the Pacific following their historic journey around the moon.
Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen returned from their 10-day lunar mission on Friday, flying farther from Earth than any human has before.
On Monday, Wiseman shared new video on X showing the perspective of a Navy medical team opening the module’s hatch in the waters off the coast of San Diego.
"Jesse, Steve, Laddy, and Vlad…. such an incredible feeling to welcome you aboard Integrity after a nearly 700,000-mile journey. Forever thankful for your service to our crew and the nation," Wiseman wrote in the X post.
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After opening the hatch, the Navy team is heard greeting the returning astronauts. Two members of the team are seen entering the module and exchanging fist bumps with the Artemis II crew.
After being helped out of the Orion crew module, the four astronauts were taken aboard the USS John P. Murtha for medical evaluation after the mission.
The Orion spacecraft traveled 252,000 miles from Earth in its journey.
The spacecraft reentered the Earth’s atmosphere Friday at around 25,000 mph, slowing to about 20 mph using an 11-parachute sequence before landing in the ocean about 60 miles off the coast at 5:07 p.m. local time.
During its reentry, the temperatures outside the spacecraft reached as high as 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the next high-stakes mission set to launch next year, Artemis III astronauts will remain in Earth’s orbit and practice docking their Orion capsule with a commercial lunar lander, a critical step before any return to the moon.
The Artemis IV is planned to follow in 2028, a mission that could carry astronauts in the first planned moon landing of the program.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.