The Artemis II crew, fresh from their historic 10-day lunar mission, made a triumphant return to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. Just a day later, they stood before an enthusiastic crowd at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, Texas, sharing heartfelt reflections on their journey.
“It’s a unique privilege to be human and to be on Earth,” expressed Commander Reid Wiseman. He emphasized the profound bond formed with his fellow crew members, stating they are now “bonded forever” before the team embraced on stage.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman warmly welcomed the crew, introducing them to the audience: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen.
“Exploring the cosmos comes with its challenges,” Isaacman acknowledged, “but it also yields tremendous benefits, creating jobs, advancing technology, and inspiring countless individuals to dream about what’s possible.” He celebrated the mission’s success, declaring, “After a long 53-year pause, we’re back. NASA is once again sending astronauts to the moon and bringing them home safely.”
The returning astronauts, including Hansen, Koch, Glover, and Wiseman, were greeted with applause at the Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston. Their mission marks a new chapter in NASA’s lunar exploration efforts, reinvigorating global interest and ambition in space travel.
NASA’s Artemis II mission astronauts mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, left, mission specialist Christina Koch, pilot Victor Glover and commander Reid Wiseman are welcomed home at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, Saturday, in Houston, Texas. (Ronaldo Schemidt / AFP via Getty Images)
Wiseman who spoke first, joked that he had “absolutely no idea what to say.”
“Twenty-four hours ago, the Earth was that big out the window, and we were doing mock 39, and here we are back at Ellington at home,” he said.
Glover said he still hadn’t processed everything, thanking God “because, even bigger than my challenge trying to describe what we went through, the gratitude of seeing what we saw doing what we did, and being with who I was with, it’s too big to just be in one body.”
Koch reflected that the “start and the end” of the mission were “human moments on Earth.”
“Ten days ago, this journey started with our mission manager, Sean Duvall, knocking on my door in crew quarters and whispering, ‘Christina, We’re go for launch. Get up!’ And it ended last night when my nurse on the ship put me to bed and said, ‘Ma’am, can I get a hug?’”
Artemis II crew hugs during the welcome home ceremony on Saturday. (KRIV)
She also said she had a new understanding of the meaning of the word “crew” since their mission.
“A crew is people or, you know, a group that is in it all the time, no matter what that is, stroking together every minute with the same purpose that is willing to sacrifice silently for each other,” she said. “That gives grace, that holds accountable. A crew has the same cares and the same needs, and a crew is inescapably, beautifully, dutifully linked. So, when we saw Tiny Earth, people asked our crew what impressions we had, and honestly, what struck me wasn’t necessarily just Earth. It was all the blackness around it.”
She also now thinks of Earth as a “lifeboat” in a universe of blackness.
“Planet Earth, you are a crew,” she added.
The Artemis II crew hugs at the welcome home ceremony on Saturday in Houston. (KRIV)
Hansen expressed his gratitude to all the people who supported them and their mission.
“And I don’t think people will really ever fully comprehend how well supported and trained we were. It is almost unbelievable,” he said.
He added of their crew: “What you saw was a group of people who loved contributing, having meaningful contribution and extracting joy out of that,” he added with his arms around his crew members.
“I would suggest to you that when you look up here, you’re not looking at us,” he continued. “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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