Washington, April 11 -- NASA closed its landmark lunar mission with great success, following a smooth and carefully choreographed recovery of its astronauts, as the Artemis II crew returned safely to Earth and emerged from the Orion capsule, receiving cheers from everyone at mission control.
At a post-splashdown briefing in Houston, the mood was highly festive. Exploration ground systems program manager Shawn Quinn called it "an incredible end to an incredible mission," adding, "It's good to be NASA, it's good to be an American today."Inside the capsule, the transition back to Earth began quickly. About 90 minutes after splashdown, the side hatch opened and the astronauts stepped out one by one onto the inflatable "front porch" raft - a sm...