Artemis astronauts will face big physical challenges as they deal with Earth’s gravity again: ‘Almost impossible to walk in a straight line’
By Ben Cost
Published on April 9, 2026.
The Artemis II astronauts have completed a 10-day mission around the moon, marking the end of their first time in over 50 years that they have returned to Earth. The team will return to Earth on Friday evening, but will face physical challenges including a potentially precarious splashdown and a potentially dangerous reentry into Earth’s atmosphere at 25,000 miles per hour. The survival of the crew depends on Orion's 16½-foot-wide heat shield, which will have to withstand temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The mission marks the furthest humans have ever flown from Earth at over 252,756 miles. The crew will also face health issues after returning to Earth following a 200-day stint in space in 2024 as part of NASA's SpaceX Crew-7 mission. Jason Endsley, the lead ground instrumentation engineer with Amentum, will assist with recovering the crew module from the Apollo spacecraft.
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