NASA press secretary Bethany Stevens told Newsmax on Friday that Artemis II will showcase how far the U.S. space program has advanced since Apollo, especially in how astronauts return to Earth and what happens after splashdown.
In an appearance on Newsmax's "Wake Up America," Stevens said the mission is about testing the systems that will power the nation's return to the moon.
She explained that the Orion spacecraft's reentry will not mirror the more straightforward return used during the Apollo era.
Instead of descending straight into Earth's atmosphere, slowing down, deploying parachutes and splashing down, Orion will use a more advanced skip-reentry maneuver to manage speed and heat on the way home.
"There are a lot of things that are different than the Apollo-era missions here," Stevens said. "We're picking up where we left off. We're going further than ever before."
That approach is one of the clearest signs that Artemis II is not simply repeating the past. NASA is using the mission to prove out modern technology that could help sustain a long-term American presence on the moon.
"We have extensive technological developments over the past 50-plus years that we're putting to the test during this mission," she said.
Stevens framed Artemis II as a key bridge to the missions that are scheduled to follow, including Artemis III and Artemis IV. She also tied the effort to President Donald Trump's first-term push to restart the U.S. manned lunar program.
"It's a test flight to prepare us for future missions," Stevens said. "It's all a part of President Trump's commitment from his first administration, when he established the Artemis program, to go back to the moon and never give up the moon again."
Pivoting to what the crew will face once they are back on Earth, Stevens said NASA is working with the U.S. Navy on recovery operations and that the astronauts will be taken aboard ship for medical evaluations after splashdown.
She noted that time spent in space places unusual stress on the human body, which is why NASA will rely on doctors and medical officers to evaluate the crew. Stevens added that the agency expects the astronauts to recover faster than International Space Station crews because they were not in orbit for months at a time.
Stevens said it remains to be determined whether Artemis II astronauts will face an Apollo-style quarantine.
"There may be," she said, adding that any quarantine decision will depend on what NASA's medical team finds after the crew returns.
Artemis II is expected to splash down Friday evening off the California coast, with NASA saying the return is scheduled for approximately 8:07 p.m. EDT.
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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