Return to Earth

The command module re-entered the atmosphere at 11 km/s — the fastest speed at which humans had ever returned home. After descending on three parachutes, it splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, 1,500 km southwest of Hawaii.

The re-entry capsule glowed at temperatures above 2,700 °C during its passage through the atmosphere, shielded by an ablative heat shield. It splashed down at 16:50 UTC; frogmen from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet recovered the crew and dressed them in isolation suits — at the time, no one could be certain they weren't bringing back unknown microorganisms from the Moon.

The crew spent 21 days in quarantine in a converted Airstream trailer, where President Nixon greeted them through the window. Their release was followed by a triumphant world tour: the goal set by Kennedy in 1961 had been achieved — with six months to spare before the decade's end.