Four astronauts hugged repeatedly Saturday as they reflected on their shared journey to the far side of the moon, which ended with a triumphant splashdown off the coast of San Diego after traveling farther from Earth than any humans in history.
The four Artemis II astronauts splashed into the Pacific Ocean at 5:07 p.m. Friday.
Among the astronauts aboard was Victor Glover, a Southern California native who was born in Pomona, attended Ontario High School and graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Serving as pilot of the Orion spacecraft, he was the first person of color to take part in a lunar mission.
He said Saturday at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston “I have not processed what we just did and I’m afraid to start even trying.
“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,” Glover said.
“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,” Commander Reid Wiseman said.
Mission Specialist Christina Hammock Koch said the 10-day mission made her reflect on the definition of a crew.
“A crew is people — or a group –that is in it all the time, no matter what, that is sticking together every minute with the same purpose,” she said. A crew “is willing to sacrifice silently for each other, that gives grace, that holds accountable, Koch added. “A crew has the same cars and the same needs. A crew is inescapably, beautifully, dutifully linked.
Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, of Canada, expressed gratitude for his family, NASA and its leadership.
“What you saw was a group of people who loved contributing, having meaningful contribution and extracting joy out of that,” Hansen said. “And what we’ve been hearing is that was something special for you to witness.”
The mission surpassed the previous distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by traveling 248,655 miles from Earth during its lunar flyby Monday, according to NASA.
The roughly six-hour lunar loop marked a key milestone in NASA’s first crewed mission to the moon since the Apollo era, sending three Americans and one Canadian around the moon as part of plans to land astronauts near the lunar south pole within the next two years.
After Friday’s spash down, the astronauts were flown out of the water by Navy helicopters to the San Diego-based U.S. Navy amphibious transport dock USS John P. Murtha for additional medical exams.
The ship’s Capt. Erik Kenny spoke about his pride to be involved in the mission during a news conference in San Diego.
“Seeing the astronauts come aboard our warship made me proud to be an American, made me proud to be a U.S. sailor, but most of all I’m really proud of humanity and all we can accomplish.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom was among those who celebrated the return of the Artemis II crew.
“Here in California, we’re proud to anchor the historic NASA Artemis II mission — and proud of our state’s role in making this mission a success,” Newsom said.
“For the over 16,000 California workers, 500 companies and three NASA centers who worked on the mission, the crew splashing down off the California Coast is a full-circle moment and point of immense pride. Artemis II is a unifying moment for all of us here on Earth that we can shoot for the stars and strive for a brighter future for all.”