Artemis II Splashes Down: Humanity's Farthest Journey and Return to Lunar Vicinity

The Artemis program is NASA's flagship human spaceflight initiative aimed at returning humans to the lunar surface and establishing a sustained presence on and around the Moon. Named after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, Artemis represents a generational leap: it aims to land the first woman and the first person of colour on the Moon. The program uses two core systems — the Space Launch System (SLS), a super-heavy lift expendable rocket, and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) paired with a European Service Module built by ESA.

Artemis II carried a crew whose composition made history beyond the mission objectives. Victor Glover became the first person of colour to travel beyond low Earth orbit; Christina Koch became the first woman; Jeremy Hansen became the first non-American astronaut; and Reid Wiseman, at 48, became the oldest person to travel to the lunar vicinity.

Key Details

• Jeremy Hansen is a Canadian Space Agency (CSA) astronaut — the Artemis program is a multi-national effort, with CSA, ESA, and JAXA as key partners.
• The crew's record distance of 406,771 km broke the record set by Apollo 13 in April 1970 — ironically, the famous failed mission that held the "farthest from Earth" record for 56 years.
• Total distance traveled from launch to splashdown: approximately 695,081 miles.

India's engagement with deep-space exploration is rapidly accelerating. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully landed Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander near the lunar south pole in August 2023, making India the first country to achieve a soft landing at that latitude. India's crewed spaceflight programme, Gaganyaan, aims to send Indian astronauts to low Earth orbit (approximately 400 km altitude) — a critical precursor to any eventual deep-space human missions. ISRO has also signed a framework agreement with NASA for collaboration on future lunar and deep space missions.