'Was Not Easy': Artemis II Astronauts Return Home To Cheers After Record-breaking Trip
After a quick reunion with their spouses and children, commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen took the hangar stage, surrounded by space center workers and other invited guests.
- Science News
- 2 min read
Still marveling over their moon mission, the Artemis II astronauts received a thunderous welcome home Saturday from hundreds who took part in NASA's lunar comeback that set a record for deep space travel.
The crew of four arrived at Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Center and Mission Control, flying in from San Diego, where they splashed down just offshore the evening before.
After a quick reunion with their spouses and children, commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen took the hangar stage, surrounded by space center workers and other invited guests.
“This was not easy.” an emotional Wiseman said. “Before you launch, it feels like it’s the greatest dream on Earth. And when you’re out there, you just want to get back to your families and your friends. It’s a special thing to be a human, and it’s a special thing to be on planet Earth.”
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Added Glover: “I have not processed what we just did and I’m afraid to start even trying."
Hansen said the four of them embodied love “and extracting joy out of that” as the four joined together to stand in a row, embracing one another. “When you look up here, you’re not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you. And if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper. This is you.”
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During Artemis II's nearly 10-day mission, the astronauts voyaged deeper into space than the moon explorers of decades past and captured views of the lunar far side never witnessed before by human eyes. A total solar eclipse added to the cosmic wonder.
“Honestly, what struck me wasn’t necessarily just Earth, it was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbedly in the universe,” Koch said. “Planet Earth you are a crew.”
Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen were the first humans to fly to the moon since Apollo 17 closed out NASA's first exploration era in 1972. Twenty-four astronauts flew to the moon during Apollo, including 12 moonwalkers.