Artemis II crew just had a long-distance call with ISS astronauts: Here's what they discussed

According to NASA, a 15-minute audio call took place at 2:40 pm EDT on April 7, 2026, between the Expedition 74 inhabitants of the International Space Station and the Artemis II flight crew. “Integrity. This is the International Space Station. How do you hear?” began Jessica Meir, the commander of the SpaceX Commercial Crew-12 mission to the ISS. “We have been waiting for this like you can’t imagine,” responded Reid Wiseman, the commander of Artemis II.

Artemis II mission specialist and the first woman to travel to the vicinity of the Moon, Christina Koch made it a point to address her longtime friend and fellow astronaut Jessica Meir, who is currently on her second mission to space. “I wanted to say a couple of things to my astro sister, Jessica. I always hoped we could be in space again together, but I never thought it would be like this. It’s amazing." Jessica Meir and Christina Koch did the first all-female spacewalk outside the ISS. The latter went on to speak about the similarities of life inside Integrity to their experiences together aboard the orbiting lab, “Basically, every single thing that we learned on ISS is up here." “I’m so happy that we are back in space together. Even if we are, you know, a few miles apart," Meir replied lightheartedly. 

Wiseman and his crew were preparing a meal when the planned call took place. “I’m looking around the Integrity spacecraft right now. We’re rehydrating some sweet and sour chicken. We’ve got some Kona with cream. It’s all the same food. We want to know what are you eating? And we’re going to mirror you today," noted Wiseman. NASA’s Crew-12 pilot Jack Hathaway responded, “So I had spicy green beans for lunch. And I’ve been loving seeing all of the things about you guys having the same food. It’s fantastic." ESA’s Sophie Adenot, only the second French woman ever in space, also chimed in, saying that she had some mango salad in the morning, to which Artemis II pilot Victor Glover responded by noting that Integrity too has some of the same salad on board.

Prior to the launch of Artemis II, NASA had shared an elaborate food menu for the crew members. Food aboard the Orion spacecraft was curated keeping in mind the limitations of weight, volume, and other vital aspects like nutrition and taste. The food was prepared by the Space Food Systems Laboratory at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Before meals, items are rehydrated, and a briefcase-like food warmer is used to heat them up. The crew, in fact, had sampled the food items on the standard menu during the preparations for the mission, which saw them share breathtaking pictures of the Moon and Earth from their unique vantage points in deep space.

The Expedition 74 crew members have been busy themselves. The crew has been training for the arrival of cargo and conducting biomedical research, a field Meir specializes in. The said cargo will be launched from Earth no earlier than 8:03 am EDT on April 10, the same day the crew of Artemis II splashes down in the Pacific Ocean. The cargo to the ISS will be delivered onboard a Cygnus XL capsule, launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The Artemis II crew has already successfully executed the first return correction burn and is scheduled to splash down in the Pacific Ocean at 8:07 p.m. EDT (5:07 p.m. PDT) on Friday. 

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