Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman said the mission astronauts were “locked in” as their capsule circled the moon and started heading back towards the earth.
Over a period of seven hours, the crew observed and photographed the moon, including parts of the lunar surface never seen before.
Onboard the spacecraft, they also experienced their own personal solar eclipse as the moon was positioned between them and the sun.
The crew named certain features on the moon to honour the Orion spacecraft as well as commander Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.
US president Donald Trump congratulated the crew, hailing their lunar flyby as the start of a new era of American space colonisation.
“You have made history and made all America incredibly proud. Your mission paves the way for America’s return to the lunar surface very soon,” he said on a live broadcast. “We’ll plant our flag once again, and this time we won’t just leave footprints.”
It will take the astronauts four days to get back, with a splashdown in the Pacific set to conclude their test flight on Friday.
NASA is running a livestream providing continuous coverage of the Artemis II mission.
