Artemis II crew speaks on historic moon mission, day after successful splash down

HOUSTON — The Artemis II crews — NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — are making their first public appearance since returning from space.

The Orion spacecraft splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday, concluding the historic mission that broke the record for the farthest human spaceflight in history on its trip around the moon.

Calling it the “opening act” in America’s return to the moon, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman welcomed the Artemis II crew back home after their historic 10-day mission.

“Welcome home, Artemis,” Isaacman said, as NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen took to the stage Saturday at the Johnson Space Center in Houston in blue NASA flight suits to cheers and applause.

In emotional remarks, the crew thanked their families, NASA leadership, God — and each other.

“Victor, Christina, and Jeremy — we are bonded forever and no one down here is ever going to know what the four of us just went through,” Cmdr. Reid Wiseman said. “And it was the most special thing that will ever happen in my life.”

Referencing the challenge to their families being 200,000 miles away from home, Wiseman said: “It’s a special thing to be a human and it’s a special thing to be on planet Earth.

The crew reflected on their lessons of their journey and shared multiple group hugs.

Following the successful historic splashdown of the Artemis II mission Friday evening, President Donald Trump congratulated the crew and looked forward to welcoming them at the White House, which he says will take place “soon.”

“Congratulations to the Great and Very Talented Crew of Artemis II. The entire trip was spectacular, the landing was perfect and, as President of the United States, I could not be more proud! I look forward to seeing you all at the White House soon,” Trump wrote Friday on his social media platform.

On Monday, the president called into the spacecraft and told the crew that he would “absolutely find the time” to welcome them to the Oval Office, though he did not specify when.

Artemis II’s record flyby and views of the moon

Launched from Florida on April 1, the astronauts racked up one win after another as they deftly navigated NASA’s long-awaited lunar comeback, the first major step in establishing a sustainable moon base.

Artemis II didn’t land on the moon or even orbit it. But it broke Apollo 13’s distance record and marked the farthest that humans have ever journeyed from Earth when the crew reached 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers). Then in the mission’s most heart-tugging scene, the teary astronauts asked permission to name a pair of craters after their moonship and Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll.

During Monday’s record-breaking flyby, they documented scenes of the moon’s far side never seen before by the human eye along with a total solar eclipse. The eclipse, in particular, “just blew all of us away,” Glover said.

Their sense of wonder and love awed everyone, as did their breathtaking pictures of the moon and Earth. The Artemis II crew channeled Apollo 8’s first lunar explorers with Earthset, showing our Blue Marble setting behind the gray moon. It was reminiscent of Apollo 8’s famous Earthrise shot from 1968.

“It just makes you want to continue to go back,” Radigan said on the eve of splashdown. “It’s the first of many trips and we just need to continue on because there’s so much” more to learn about the moon.

Their moonshot drew global attention as well as star power, earning props from President Donald Trump; Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney; Britain’s King Charles III; Ryan Gosling, star of the latest space flick “Project Hail Mary”; Scarlett Johansson of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and even Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner of TV’s original “Star Trek.”

Artemis II was a test flight for future moon missions

Despite its rich scientific yield, the nearly 10-day flight was not without technical issues. Both the capsule’s drinking water and propellant systems were hit with valve problems. In perhaps the most high-profile predicament, the toilet kept malfunctioning, but the astronauts shrugged it all off.

“We can’t explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient,” Koch said, “unless we’re making a few sacrifices, unless we’re taking a few risks, and those things are all worth it.”

Added Hansen: “You do a lot of testing on the ground, but your final test is when you get this hardware to space and it’s a doozy.”

Under the revamped Artemis program, next year’s Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar lander or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a crew of two near the moon’s south pole in 2028.

The Artemis II astronauts’ allegiance was to those future crews, Wiseman said.

“But we really hoped in our soul is that we could for just for a moment have the world pause and remember that this is a beautiful planet and a very special place in our universe, and we should all cherish what we have been gifted,” he said.

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