NASA Astronaut Shares Breathtaking Images of Artemis II Reentry from the International Space Station

As the Artemis II crew plunged back toward Earth on Friday night, they had an audience 250 miles above them.

Astronaut Chris Williams, currently aboard the International Space Station, shared images Friday of the Artemis II reentry as seen from orbit — one of the most extraordinary vantage points imaginable for one of the most historic moments in recent spaceflight history.

What Did Artemis II Reentry Look Like From Space?

Williams described what the ISS crew saw in the caption accompanying the photos. The first thing visible was a bright light and a trail as the Artemis II service module burned up in the upper atmosphere during reentry. The Orion capsule itself — carrying commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — was not visible from the station. But what it left behind was.

Our crew on the @Space_Station caught a glimpse of the @NASAArtemis II crew as they re-entered the atmosphere from their journey to the Moon! We first saw a bright light and a trail as the service module burned up. We didn’t see the Orion capsule itself as it re-entered, but we… pic.twitter.com/4uzu3wBefB

— Chris Williams (@Astro_ChrisW) April 11, 2026

"We saw the wispy trail it left behind in the upper atmosphere," Williams wrote.

It is a view of reentry that almost no one has ever seen — the ghostly aftermath of a spacecraft carrying four humans back from the Moon, traced across the sky in a streak of light visible from space.

"Overjoyed that our friends are safely back on Earth after their awe-inspiring mission," Williams added.

The Artemis II crew splashed down at 8:07 p.m. ET Friday in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, completing a 10-day mission that took them farther from Earth than any humans in history. All four astronauts were confirmed in good health following splashdown and reunited with their families Saturday at Ellington Field at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/10RaEDO