Artemis II astronauts safely splash down
off San Diego coast after historic moon mission

I always say a prayer those astronauts and so welcome to get them home safe.

God bless the Artemis II astronauts. God bless the USA.

Congrats to all involved...but, as a child I watched an in person/live Apollo Launch, as a teen I dated the daughter of a senior Nasa engineer, had bar-b-q's and pool parties with those earlier astronauts, their families,their children...few if any are still alive, even most of the kids are past retirement age. In many ways this feels a bit like..."Oooh look, they built a reproduction,(with some updated materials and, electronics) of a ZEPPELIN and flew it over the original blimps old flight path", or perhaps..."A modern carbon fiber copy of Charles Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of America replicated his Historic Flight" similar design, slightly larger, to carry extra passengers... How close did they get to the Moon? "It looked to be the size of a Bowling Ball...held at Arms Length"...I have watched moon rises for over 60 years, many from very remote locations, such as alone on a small boat in the middle of an ocean. I have seen them where they "Looked like a Volleyball...two inches away from your nose". Mankind(primarily private sector) has certainly made some major modern inroads into space, travel, technologies, means, methods, motors, motives...This is not that.

Listening to the press conference now. Amidst all the world conflicts and tension, this brings me great joy. What an experience it must be to view God's creation from above! God bless these brave astronauts, and God bless the United States of America! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

With respect, there was nothing 'historic' regarding this mission. There have been ten prior flights that rounded the moon. This was all accomplished in the late 60's/early 70's.

Indeed, the only thing "historic" about this flight was distance from earth, but I guess it meant a lot for the younger generation(s) who weren't around the last time we went down this road. One thing that really bugged me was the substandard, pixelated video at both the launch and recovery - there was better resolution during Apollo.

I didn't watch and don't understand the point. They've done all this before. What were they looking for? Did they find it? I found the pictures of Mars far more interesting.

I am glad they are safe, but what did they actually accomplish that wasn't accomplished 50 years ago. They do not have a viable craft that can go and return and they are still splashing down.

Congratulations to the astronauts and all the mission team. For those who wonder, why bother, this is a test of completely new technology as to its suitability and reliability for the next real goal, a mission to Mars. They did the same thing with the moon missions, step by step. On earth, we roll out new tech and it has bugs. We patch and shrug our shoulders and it gets better. They cannot do that on a space mission. It has to work. Period. And as to no improvements over techniques such as the splashdown return, I suspect they checked and rechecked and found it was the best way. The drama over the process was a bit media exaggerated. They have done this. They know it works. If anything, there is probably new materials and construction that make it even safer but, again, all the new stuff needs to be checked out. They had mission goals and they seem to have met all of them. The newer tech seems to have checked out. There are probably a bunch of small refinements that have been noted and may need fixes. The next phase is testing new landing tech. Then making a moon landing. Then establishing a lunar base of support. Then Mars missions to check out the planet up close. Then a Mars landing. Step by step.

I have changed my mind. After seeing how much trouble they had with the mission, I now think we should go back to the moon periodically just to maintain the ability. Welcome home Artemis!!

For those of old enough to remember the splasedown of the last Apollo mission in 1972, the Artemis II splashdown was quite a trip down memory. Good one, America. American Exceptionalism on display.

It’s disappointing to read all the cynical comments about what was an amazing display of US technology. Especially by the poster who acquired insider knowledge and expertise by dating the daughter of a NASA engineer and seeing the moon from a boat. There is much to be learned from our space program. Do you use memory foam? Scratch free lenses? Smartphone cameras? Cordless vacuums? Thank NASA.

#12, and digital imagers, cordless power tools, dry lubricants, global positioning systems (GPS), satellite tv and radio, garage door remotes. The list goes on.

# 9 & 12 Informative. The moon seems to be a rich concentration of rare earths, better we get them than China. Progress is the human story. We discover, innovate and invent. We are the recipients of thousands of years of human curiosity. Go America.

As a young boy I was practically glued to the TV watching every minute of the Apollo 8 Mission when men literally broke the surly bonds and went to circle the Moon, a feat no other nation, or group of nations (European Space Agency (ESA) or the now defunct Soviet Union) even attempted, since 1968. Only the USA can do large scale, cross-functional "Systems" like we do. A single language helps, but what has also helped, since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, has been the mechanical know-how once brought up and nurtured in families on America's farms. Young men, skilled, before high-school, in the industrial arts, or identified with mechanical-electrical aptitudes, would head off to university in pursuit of Math, Engineering, Physics, or Chemistry Degrees, and many would end up working at one of the thousands of companies that designed, built, and supported the rocket motors, capsules, electrical, and the life-support systems that were used to get our crewmen up there, and back again. It was truly a golden age for America in the 1950's, 60's, and 70's and, as hard as it may be for the U.N. to admit, the World. Funny thing is, we didn't need any Mexicans, Asians, Indians, or Muslims (from anyplace). We did it all with American, mostly white, and mostly men. Note: There are thousands of hours of NASA, and other sources, documenting the "Space Race" for proof - QED. Suffice it to say, that all of it was done minus those who have come here legally, or illegally, and come here believing this country "needs them" for any "skills" they believe they possess. It's certainly great to see the United States back at extraplanetary travel and colonization.

I'd much rather see my/our tax dollars "wasted" on a supposedly been there done that mission to the moon than on federal welfare programs full of nothing but bloat, fraud and waste.

What surprises me is the worry about the heat shield. The capsule was a copy of the Apollo capsule. If engineers using slide rules could figure out how to protect the capsule 50+ years ago, what's the matter with these people using super computers today? Then I heard that landing on the moon would be difficult on the 2028 timeline because they don't have a space suit or landing craft designed yet. Did everything that was learned during the Apollo missions get lost? How about examining the suits from the Apollo missions to get an idea of how to do it. Good grief! Nasa worked with GM to send a car to the moon so the astronauts could ride around back in 1969 or 70. Apparently, everyone has died since the last time this was attempted and they're starting from scratch. Anyone paying at least a little attention knew this was going to happen when you allow over fifty years to go by before doing this again. I was thrilled with finally seeing a rocket take off from the cape after all these years, but even getting the astronauts out of the capsule took forever once the capsule was ready. An hour and a half to get them out? How many times did the copters have to return to refuel during this time? I guess I was used to seeing the Apollo missions run a bit smoother after splash down.

Great Job, Now, NASA, where is all the Data. It cost us 1$ billion per ounce?

We watched the re-entry and were thrilled to see our American Astronauts (was one Canadian?) come back to earth. It brought tears to my eyes. We are so proud of our Space Force.