How fast was Artemis II going?

Short answer

Orion reentered the atmosphere at about 25,000 miles per hour (mph), according to NASA. During the mission it traveled 695,081 miles in total and reached 252,756 miles from Earth, the farthest a crew has ever traveled, surpassing Apollo 13's 1970 record.

Published: October 6, 2026 · Updated: October 7, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Orion EFT-1 just prior to splashdown

25,000 mph on the way back

The speed NASA highlighted when closing out the flight is the reentry speed: Orion tore through the atmosphere at about 25,000 miles per hour (mph) before splashing down off the coast of San Diego on April 10, 2026. It's the most demanding phase of any lunar return, because all the energy built up during the trip has to end up converted into heat and dissipated through the heat shield in just a few minutes.

That figure marks the difference between returning from low Earth orbit and returning from the Moon. A spacecraft coming back from the lunar environment reaches the edge of the atmosphere after falling from much farther away, and enters considerably faster than a capsule returning from the International Space Station. That's why the heat shield was one of the elements the test flight had to validate with a crew on board.

695,081 miles traveled

In total, the crew traveled 695,081 miles and reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, surpassing the distance record Apollo 13's astronauts had held since 1970. The closest approach to the Moon was 4,067 miles above the surface: a wide flyby, without lunar orbit or a landing. The mission ran from April 1 to April 10, 2026, and lasted about ten days.

Speed isn't a fixed number

As with any translunar flight, Orion didn't hold a constant value. The trans-lunar injection burn accelerated it to leave Earth orbit; afterward it kept slowing as it moved farther away, lunar gravity curved its path during the flyby, and the fall back toward Earth sped it up again to the reentry value. That's why any single-figure answer refers to one specific moment, and the moment that gets measured and published is the one on the way home.