‘It’s a special thing to be human’: Artemis II crew returns with awe, gratitude, and faith

After traveling approximately 695,000 miles over its 10-day trip around the moon, the Artemis II crew — made up of astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen, and Victor Glover — made their splash landing into the Pacific Ocean, arriving safely back on Earth, on April 10.

A day after the end of their historic journey, the four astronauts gave brief yet powerful reflections of their experience during an event at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

During her remarks, Koch — Artemis IIʼs mission specialist — shared that she has learned what the true meaning of a crew is.

“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,” she said. “A crew has the same cares and the same needs and a crew is inescapably, beautifully, dutifully linked.”

With this in mind and looking down at Earth from space, Koch shared that what struck her wasn’t necessarily just looking down at Earth, but “it was all the blackness around it — Earth was just this lifeboat, hanging undisturbingly in the universe.”

She added: “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.”

Reflecting on his experience, Wiseman — who served as the Artemis II mission commander — highlighted the important role the astronauts’ families played in supporting them.

“No one knows what the families went through. This was not easy being 200,000-plus miles away from home,” he said. “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.”

He added: “It’s a special thing to be a human and itʼs a special thing to be on planet Earth.”

During his remarks, Glover — who served as the pilot on the mission — said: “When this started on April 3, 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.”

Glover shared another powerful message outside of his home in Houston to a group of neighbors who gathered to welcome him back. The video was shared on social media.

“Some of us have never met before, and you know whose fault that is? Ours,“ he said. ”So letʼs choose to do this. Letʼs be this more; letʼs be neighbors. I donʼt know if you heard me say it, but God told us to love him with all that we are, and love our neighbors as ourselves.”

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Hansen also touched on three human experiences that left a lasting impact on him — gratitude, joy, and love.

The Canadian astronaut thanked his family, NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, and the many teams that were involved throughout the entire process of the Artemis II mission. He also highlighted the crewʼs commitment to always remain joyful — even during the difficult moments — and the love they each carried for the mission and one another.

“You havenʼt heard us talk a lot about the science, the things weʼve learned, and thatʼs because theyʼre there and theyʼre incredible but itʼs the human experience that is extraordinary for us,” he said.