NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen have completed their record-breaking 10-day lunar flyby on the Artemis II mission. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said this feat was the “greatest adventure in human history” when discussing the crew’s recent return to Earth.
The four-person Artemis II crew returned to Earth last week after their record-breaking 10-day lunar flyby mission. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman was one of the many who was waiting for the astronauts to arrive at Ellington Field at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, along with the crew’s families.
Isaacman said that the mission was “the greatest adventure in human history.”
NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen all traveled deeper into space than any human has ever before. The Artemis II mission worked as a test flight to lay down the groundwork for future space missions.
Once the crew returned to Earth, they all expressed their gratitude to have embarked on such an iconic journey together. Wiseman, for example, said:
“Victor, Christina, and Jeremy, we are, we are bonded forever, and no one down here is ever going to know what the four of us just went through, and it was the most special thing that will ever happen in my life.”
Wiseman, who got choked up, acknowledged the ways in which they all bonded over not only being in space together, but missing their loved ones and recognizing what their families went through. “This was not easy being 200,000-plus miles away from home.”
“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.”
Glover stated that he still hasn’t “fully processed” the entire mission and what the crew truly accomplished yet, but he was full of so much gratitude.
“When this started, I wanted to thank God in public, and I want to thank God again, 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,” he stated.
“I wanted to thank our families for everything. I love you, but not just those five beautiful cocoa-skinned ladies right there, all of you,” Glover said, gesturing towards his family.
Koch went on to share how her nurse on the Navy recovery ship asked if she could have a hug, marking one of the “many great human moments that began and ended the mission.”
“A crew is 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, that gives grace, that holds accountable,” Koch said.
“A crew has the same cares and the same needs, and a crew is inescapably beautifully, dutifully linked.”
Koch said that one of her “strongest revelations” came when they were observing Earth appear tiny through the window of Orion.
“I know I haven’t learned everything that this journey has yet to teach me. But there’s one new thing I know, and that is planet Earth: You are a crew,” Koch said.
Hansen said that the human experience has been an extraordinary one for both him and his crewmates, and the reception from the public has been equally as thrilling.
“We have a term in our crew that we coined a long time ago, the ‘joy train,’ and it sounds like you saw a lot of joy up there. ” Hansen said.
“There was a lot of joy. We’re not always on the joy train, this crew, there are many times we’re not on the joy train, but we are committed to getting back on the joy train as soon as we can. And that is a useful life skill for any team trying to get something done.”
“What you saw was a group of people who loved contributing, having meaningful contribution and extracting joy out of that,” Hansen said.
“What we’ve been hearing is that it was something special for you to witness. I would suggest to you that 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.”
The crew was able to talk with their spouses and children through brief calls. Mission commander Wiseman stated the experience of listening to his crewmates’ conversations was a “remarkable bonding experience.
“Hearing your crewmates giggling and crying and just gasping and listening and loving their families from afar, has been the neatest bonding experience,” Wiseman said.
“Family is so important to all four of us, and that has been amazing.”
Wiseman concluded over the weekend with a message for the NASA astronauts.
Speaking of the future, Wiseman said: “It is time to go and be ready, because it takes courage. It takes determination. And you all are freaking going, and we are going to be standing there supporting you every single step of the way in every possible way possible.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
