From a precise splashdown to a 694,000-mile journey, here's how Artemis II showed NASA's Moon-to-Mars plan is taking shape.

The spacecraft that flew four astronauts around the moon is back where its record-breaking journey began. NASA's Artemis II capsule returned to Florida's Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday

The team — including commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — broke the record for distance traveled from Earth during the 10-day moon flyby before splashing down April 11 in the Pacific Ocean.

This eerie image shows the heat shield following splashdown.

Artemis 3 will evaluate the AxEMU suit in Earth orbit in 2027, a necessary validation step before any astronaut wears it on the lunar surface. That sequencing is deliberate. It is also a reminder of how much remains untested on the path to Artemis 4.

NASA's plan has three major components, which would eventually culminate in a constant human presence on the moon.

Artemis II was NASA's ambitious plan to return to the moon. The last mission that carried humans to the lunar surface was the Apollo 17 mission in 1972.  The Artemis mission was one of the vital steps to future moon missions and exploration.

Erie native Leah Struchen Deans was at the engineering console in Houston during the Artemis II flight and will help engineer future moon missions.

NASA has begun its initial assessments of the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket and other systems that brought astronauts to the moon.

NASA released a new image of the Artemis II heat shield, taken by U.S. Navy divers moments after the astronauts splashed down. Early data shows Artemis II's heat shield performed as expected, and better than the heat shield on Artemis I.

A Chelsea native was honored by Gov. Healey for his Artemis II role and his path from Chelsea to NASA.