TLDR
- Four astronauts splashed down safely off the California coast on April 10, ending the 10-day Artemis II mission
- The crew traveled 252,756 miles from Earth, farther than any humans in history
- Six space stocks averaged 23% gains since the April 1 launch, beating the S&P 500 by 19 points
- York Space Systems rose 50% over the mission period despite dropping 7.5% on splashdown day
- NASA’s next crewed mission, Artemis III, is planned for 2027, with a moon landing targeted for 2028
Four NASA astronauts returned safely to Earth on April 10 after completing the Artemis II mission, the first crewed lunar voyage in over 50 years. The Orion capsule, named Integrity, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast at around 5:07 p.m. Pacific Time.
Welcome home Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy! 🫶
The Artemis II astronauts have splashed down at 8:07pm ET (0007 UTC April 11), bringing their historic 10-day mission around the Moon to an end. pic.twitter.com/1yjAgHEOYl
— NASA (@NASA) April 11, 2026
The crew included Americans Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. They traveled a total of 694,392 miles over 10 days, including two Earth orbits and a flyby of the moon.
The crew set a new distance record, reaching 252,756 miles from Earth. That broke the previous record of roughly 248,000 miles set by the Apollo 13 crew in 1970.
Glover became the first Black astronaut on a lunar mission. Koch was the first woman. Hansen was the first non-U.S. citizen to take part in a lunar mission.
Mission commander Wiseman radioed mission control shortly after splashdown: “We are stable one — four green crew members.” NASA commentator Rob Navias called it “a perfect bull’s eye splashdown.”
The capsule hit Earth’s atmosphere at 32 times the speed of sound. Temperatures at the heat shield reached around 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. A planned radio blackout lasted over six minutes at peak re-entry stress.
Space Stocks Rally During Mission
While the astronauts were in space, publicly traded space companies saw sharp stock gains.
Rocket Lab, Firefly Aerospace, York Space Systems, Redwire, Planet Labs, and AST SpaceMobile rose an average of 23% from the April 1 launch through April 10. That outpaced the S&P 500 by about 19 percentage points.
York Space Systems dropped 7.5% on the day of splashdown but still finished the mission period up 50%. The six companies combined are valued at roughly $100 billion.
None of these companies were directly involved in the Artemis II mission. They represent different parts of the space economy, including launch services, satellite supply, Earth imaging, and communications.
SpaceX, which is not publicly traded, is valued at around $1.3 trillion and is planning an IPO for midyear.
What Comes Next for Artemis
The Artemis program is designed to return Americans to the moon and build a permanent presence there.
Artemis III is planned for 2027 and will involve a crewed docking test with lunar landers built by SpaceX and Blue Origin. Artemis IV, targeted for 2028, is intended to be the first U.S. moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972.
NASA has faced budget pressure under the current administration. The White House proposed cutting $3.4 billion from NASA’s science budget for 2027 and has already reduced the agency’s workforce by 20%.
The Artemis III crew has not yet been announced. NASA’s associate administrator Amit Kshatriya said the announcement would come “soon” following the Artemis II crew’s return.
More than 3 million viewers watched the splashdown live on NASA’s YouTube channel.
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