The Orion spacecraft carrying the Artemis II lunar mission crew has returned to Earth just over nine days after the launch.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) broadcast the spacecraft’s descent.

The crew successfully completed a parachute-assisted splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego (California) at 8:07 p.m. EDT on April 10 (3:07 a.m. Moscow time, or 12:07 a.m. GMT on April 11).

The US Navy ship USS John P. Murtha will transport the spacecraft and its crew to land.

The SLS launch vehicle carrying the Orion spacecraft as part of the Artemis II mission with four NASA astronauts on board set off toward the Moon from the John F. Kennedy Space Center (Florida) at 6:35 p.m. local time on April 1 (11:35 p.m. GMT, or 1:35 a.m. Moscow time on April 2).

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, completed the mission to orbit the Moon, breaking the record for the farthest human spaceflight from Earth.

The previous manned mission to the Moon took place in December 1972 as part of the American Apollo 17 expedition.

Tass