Right now, the question “When will the astronauts return to Earth?” mostly refers to the Artemis II mission , which is currently flying its first crewed loop around the Moon in April 2026.

Artemis II crew return date

The four astronauts aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft (Artemis II) are scheduled to begin their return to Earth between April 7 and April 9, 2026 , with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean likely around April 10, 2026 after a roughly four‑day trans‑Earth coast.

  • Trans‑Earth burn window: April 7–9, 2026, when Orion fires its engine to leave lunar‑orbit trajectory and head back toward Earth.
  • Estimated splashdown: Sometime around April 10, 2026 , depending on the precise timing of the return burn and weather conditions.

Other recent astronaut returns (context)

To avoid confusion, here are a few other recent returns that people sometimes mix into this question:

  • Crew‑11 astronauts (ISS): Returned in January 2026 , splashing down off California after a five‑month mission.
  • Crew‑9 astronauts (Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, etc.): Returned in March 2025 , after an extended stay on the ISS.

If you meant a different mission

If you were asking about a specific crew (for example, a different station mission or a different country’s astronauts), please drop the mission name or crew names (like “ISS Crew‑12” or “Artemis II”), and I can give you that exact return date and timeline in the same style.