Artemis II astronauts revel in return celebration

Richard Tribou, Orlando Sentinel on Apr 13, 2026

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After hurtling to the moon and back, the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission were welcomed home to cheers back in Houston and spoke to the public Saturday for the first time since coming back to Earth.

“We are we are bonded forever, and no one down here is ever gonna know what the four of us just went through, and it was the most special thing that will ever happen in my life,” said commander Reid Wiseman to his three crewmates, fellow NASA astronauts Victor Glover and Christina Koch along with Canadian Space Agency Jeremy Hansen.

The quartet splashed down in the Orion spacecraft Integrity off the coast of California on Friday night. The quartet had launched April 1 from Kennedy Space Center on the first crewed mission of the Artemis program as part of NASA’s efforts to return humans back to the surface of the moon. While Artemis II was just a lunar flyby, the astronauts became the first humans to fly out of low-Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972.

Wiseman thanked the spouses, parents and children of all four.

“No one knows what the families went through,” he said. “Man, this was not easy. Being 200,000-plus miles away from home like before you launch, it feels like it’s the greatest dream on Earth, (but) 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.”

The crew had been introduced by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.

“Welcome home Artemis II,” he said. “After a brief 53-year intermission, the show goes on and NASA is back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon and bringing them home safely.”

The quartet then ventured onto a stage, getting hugs and handshakes, and greeted the cheering crowd with massive grins, waves, thank you clasps and raised, victorious fists.

Isaacman referenced a statement Wiseman made during an interview back in February when the mission’s commander had said he hoped the crew would be “forgotten, overshadowed by all that was to come after.”

“I’m very sorry to disappoint you all. Artemis II will always be remembered,” Isaacman said. “It was the moment we all saw the moon again where childhood dreams became missions, you helped the world start believing again, and this is something no one’s ever going to forget.”

The four then shared a group hug on stage, and joked how they were going to follow Wiseman’s emotional opening statement.

Glover joked, “now we’re ready for questions,” but then recentered to give his feelings about the mission.

“I wanted to thank God in public, and I want to thank God again,” he said. “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, and I wanted to thank our families for everything that he just said. So great words, great words, great words.”

Koch gave her impressions of what overcame her has she saw “tiny Earth” and the meaning behind the word, “crew.”

“What struck me wasn’t necessarily just Earth, it was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe,” she said. “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.”

Hansen opened joking that this was the farthest he had been from Wiseman in a long time, so the Wiseman took the queue, stood up, crossed the stage, sat in Hansen’s chair.

Hansen delved into three human experiences the crew shared: science, joy and love, having all four stand arms draped over one another’s shoulders.

“What you saw was a group of people who loved contributing, having meaningful contribution and extracting joy out of that. And what we’ve been hearing is that was something special for you to witness. And the reason I had them form up here with me is because I would suggest to you that when you look up here, you’re not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you,” he said.

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