In a touching video shared by an Artemis II astronaut, a joyful reunion with her beloved dog following a lunar mission was captured.
Christina Koch, at 47, made her return to Earth on Friday after a groundbreaking journey around the moon, accompanied by three male crew members.
The heartwarming scene features her dog, Sadie, who burst into a frenzy of excitement upon seeing Koch after her nearly 10-day space expedition.
Anticipating her owner’s return, Sadie eagerly scratched at the door as if sensing Koch’s presence on the other side.
As the door opened, Koch mirrored Sadie’s enthusiasm by joyfully kneeling and calling out to her furry friend.
“I’m pretty sure I was the more thrilled party in this reunion,” Koch humorously remarked in the video she posted on Sunday.
‘Sadie taught me everything I needed to know about being an emotional support animal. Didn’t expect that would come in handy.’
The dog appeared almost incapable of controlling her excitement, running around Koch before grabbing a toy to show her.
Christina Koch, 47, who was a part of the Artemis II mission, uploaded a heartwarming moment of her adorable dog named Sadie welcoming her home
Both the astronaut and the dog were very excited to be reunited after Koch was gone for nearly 10 days floating in space
Koch returned on Friday she can be seen being supported to walk as she arrived aboard USS John P Murtha
The precious reunion garnered nearly 800,000 likes and thousands of comments, with many noting how touched they were by the moment.
Additionally, the astronauts’ post was accompanied by another moment of her and Sadie playing on the beach as they ran through the shallow water, looking very happy to be together again.
Before reuniting with her pup, Koch endured a one-of-a-kind commute home from work.
She plunged down in the Pacific Ocean, reaching blistering speeds of up to 25,000 miles per hour before making its ‘bullseye’ landing off the coast of San Diego, California, at 8.07pm ET on Friday.
Koch was alongside astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen.
The four went around the moon and farther than any human had ever traveled into space before.
NASA officials called the Artemis II mission a total success, with the capsule splashing down exactly where the space agency had planned.
The astronaut also uploaded more moments of her and Sadie playing at the beach together looking very happy to be together again
Pictured: The NASA Artemis II crew, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover
After being picked up from the Orion crew module and flown to the USS John P Murtha by helicopter, the history-making space explorers were greeted by cheering onboard crowds.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called the moon mission ‘perfect’ and declared America’s intention to begin the work on a successful moon landing and construction of a lunar base by 2028.
Isaacman said: ‘We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon. This is just the beginning.’
The Artemis II mission began back on April 1 with a successful launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
A day later, the crew set off on a four-day trip to the moon, where they would travel around the dark side and break the decades-old record of Apollo 13 for the farthest distance from Earth humans have ever traveled.
While the Apollo crew traveled 248,655 miles from Earth in 1970, Artemis II reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles on day six of their mission.
While conducting their lunar flyby, the astronauts also named two new craters discovered on the lunar surface, including naming one after the late wife of Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman, Carroll.
