MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. — After 25 days around the moon, NASA's Orion spacecraft finally returned to Earth.
The Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean around 12:40 p.m. west of Baja, California. NASA TV coverage of Artemis I’s return to Earth began at 11 a.m. EST on Sunday, Dec. 11.
The spacecraft launched for the first time back on Nov. 16. NASA says on its website that the Artemis I is the first in a series of missions to build "a long-term human presence at the Moon."
“At present, we are on track to have a fully successful mission with some bonus objectives that we’ve achieved along the way,” said Mike Sarafin, Artemis I mission manager. “On entry day, we will realize our priority one objective, which is to demonstrate the vehicle at lunar re-entry conditions, as well as our priority three objectives, which is to retrieve the spacecraft.”
The capsule and its three test dummies entered lunar orbit more than a week after launching on the $4 billion demo that's meant to pave the way for astronauts.
NASA considers this a dress rehearsal for the next moon flyby in 2024, with astronauts. A lunar landing by astronauts could follow as soon as 2025. Astronauts last visited the moon 50 years ago during Apollo 17.
Earlier in the week, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with the capsule for nearly an hour. At the time, controllers were adjusting the communication link between Orion and the Deep Space Network. Officials said the spacecraft remained healthy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.