NASA picked a very good morning to return from the moon. It was 50 years ago today that the crew of Apollo 17 landed in the Taurus Littrow Valley on the lunar surface, where they planted the last of six flags Apollo crews would leave behind to mark their moments in history. Today, the space agency planted a new, if symbolic flag, when the Artemis 1 mission’s Orion crew capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 320 km (200 mi.) off the coast of Baja California, Mexico, at 9:40 a.m. Pacific Time. The safe return marked the end of a 25-day lunar orbital mission, proving the flight-worthiness of the Orion spacecraft, which is expected to carry a crew of astronauts on a circumlunar journey during Artemis 2, in 2024.