Bay Area fans celebrate Artemis II splashdown with a roar at Chabot Space Center in Oakland

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — When the astronauts of the Artemis II splashed down off the coast of San Diego on Friday, cheers were heard around the country — even in Oakland.

“I was actually a science major. So, being here today at Chabot, a place that I grew up in, to witness history, is actually just wonderful and amazing,” said Oakland resident, Amber Wilson.

Wilson and her mom, Jeanette Sunflower Martin, have been following the mission from start to end, and were excited to learn about the scientific discoveries along the way. They were among the hundreds who came out to the Chabot Space and Science Center in the Oakland Hills.

“History fan. Science fan. (It’s) super exciting for all of us to be together, community. History being made,” Martin said.

“Splashdown confirmed at 7:07 p.m. Central Time. 5:07 p.m. Pacific Time. From the pages of Jules Verne to a modern-day mission to the moon, a new chapter on the exploration of our celestial neighbor is complete,” said an announcer from NASA, who was commentating the shuttle’s re-entry over the live feed broadcasted at Chabot.

Re-entry is always one of the riskiest parts of spaceflight. This matter was particularly true for Artemis II, because of a known design flaw.

“During the mission, (the astronauts) went around the back side of the moon,” said Gerald McKeegan, an astronomer at Chabot.

He says traveling to the far side of the moon has implications far beyond space exploration.

“A long time ago, when the earth was being earth, was being pummeled by asteroids 3.8 billion years ago, some of the rocks that were thrown off the earth ended up on the moon. So, we can find on the moon, rocks that are older than any of the rocks we can find on earth. That might give us clues how life might have originated on earth,” McKeegan said.

“This is cool. This is once in a lifetime almost, right! It’s great for the kids to see it at this age and get interested. And, you know, maybe future astronauts here, I don’t know,” said Orinda resident Joe Liu, who came with his young son and daughter.

“It was kind of cool to see a spaceship land on earth,” said Liu’s young son, Damian.

The Artemis astronauts once dreamed of space travel themselves. In the audience Friday was a new generation of dreamers.

MORE: USS Hornet helped write the playbook for Artemis II splashdown: A look at its NASA history

“I was excited and happy, because when I grow up, I want to be building rockets, doing telecom,” said 10-year-old Vrinda Iyengar, who lives in Santa Clara.

She attended with her family — big space fans — who have visited several space centers across the U.S. Her father, Aravind, reflected on the Artemis II return.

“What mattered even more was being here in shared space, with the whole community, Cheering for the astronauts, cheering for NASA. Cheering for America. And cheering for humanity at large. That was amazing. It was like a stadium event. So that was really exciting.,” Aravind said.