Now That NASA's Artemis II Has Returned, What Happens Next?

After a journey that marked humanity’s return to deep space after more than five decades, NASA’s Artemis II mission has officially come full circle. The four-member crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen—launched aboard the Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center and completed a multi-day lunar flyby before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on April 10, 2026. Recovered by the USS John P. Murtha, the mission now moves into its most critical phase on Earth: analysis, recovery, and preparation for what comes next.

What Happens To The Artemis II Astronauts Now?

NASA does not release details about the crew members' health or private lives, but here's what's likely to happen to the four astronauts now they're back.

First things first, they'll immediately be seen by doctors.

On arrival, they were immediately examined by doctors on the US warship sent to retrieve them. Then they will be flown ashore by helicopter before being taken by plane to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Spending time in space will have been physically gruelling for the Artemis II crew. Without the tug of gravity, muscle and bone mass shrinks in space, with the most affected muscles being those that help maintain posture in the back, neck and calves. Astronauts have strict exercise requirements before they go to space, but it can't prevent all muscle loss, and after just two weeks, muscle mass can fall by as much as 20%.

But hey, check out the duration of this mission again. Around 700 people have been into space before, including low Earth orbit, and the time the Artemis II crew has spent up there will be amongst the shortest. Nowadays, a typical stay on the International Space Station is five to six months. So the impacts on the Artemis II astronauts' health are likely to be minimal compared with their predecessors.

Psychologically speaking, space doesn't cause people to go crazy or anything. Astronauts are trained to stay level-headed, though many speak about a renewed appreciation for Earth.

Of course, there's also the personal side of returning, and a lot of public-facing moments ahead the crew of four. One high-profile engagement already on the cards is a visit to the White House, following an invitation extended to the crew while they were still in space.

Can The Artemis II Crew Return To Space?

Yes, absolutely. The Artemis II crew (Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen) are allowed to return to space. The astronauts remain part of NASA’s active corps. In fact, many of them are expected to fly again on even more ambitious missions.

What About The Spacecraft?

Once the Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, recovery operations began almost immediately. Navy divers secured the spacecraft and attached a winch line to pull the crew module into a recovery cradle aboard the USS John P. Murtha. The capsule, named “Integrity,” was then hoisted into the ship, where initial safety checks and system power-down procedures were carried out.

From there, engineers began immediate on-site inspections and data gathering, with particular focus on the heat shield after its re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere. These early assessments are critical, offering the first look at how the spacecraft performed during deep-space travel and the intense conditions of return.

The capsule will then be transported to Naval Base San Diego before making its way to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. At Kennedy, it will undergo detailed post-flight inspections and analysis. Every component, from thermal protection systems to onboard instrumentation, will be studied to evaluate how well it held up during the mission.

At the same time, the data collected throughout the 700,000-plus mile journey will be analysed. This includes feedback from the crew on spacecraft systems, habitat functionality, and operational procedures. Together, this information will directly inform improvements for future missions, particularly Artemis III, which aims to return humans to the lunar surface.

What Was The Point Of The Mission, Again?

Humans had not been to the moon since 1972 (that's more than half a century), and only 24 people had ever journeyed into "deep" space before this. Those were the 24 Apollo astronauts who, from 1968 to 1972, launched from the largest rockets ever built on a multi-day journey to the moon. Of those 24 astronauts, only five are alive today, and all are in their 90s. And while we gained important scientific information, thanks to the Apollo astronauts risking their lives, there was always new knowledge to be gained. Technology has improved a lot ever since.

So one of the main goals of the Artemis program was to determine how to establish a safer and more consistent human presence in deep space. As you would know, travelling outside Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field creates unique challenges. For example, we were more prone to cancer-causing radiation on the journey to the moon. Women in particular were more prone to this damaging radiation, and Artemis I tested the shielding needed to safely send female astronauts (in addition to their male counterparts) into deep Earth orbit. Christina Koch, a mission specialist on Artemis II, was the first woman to journey into deep space and was safer as a result of what we learned from Artemis I. All Artemis missions going forward would be gathering data to make it safer to consistently send astronauts on these challenging journeys.

Besides, it's important to remember just how difficult it is to safely launch any rocket into space, let alone one that has four humans placed at the top of it.

All in all, the current motivation of the Artemis program was to establish a more sustained human presence on or near the moon to prepare for more difficult missions, such as to Mars. It might seem like there are more pressing matters in the world, but as a great online analogy explains it: just because a baby can't walk or run right away, doesn't make the crawling any less significant.