During NASA’s Artemis II press conference in Houston on April 16, 2026, crew members Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen talked about the global wave of support for the historic mission, with Wiseman sharing just how much it meant to the crew.
Watch NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lift off on April 1, captured in stunning infrared and shown at 5x speed. Launching from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center, the rocket carried Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen on their journey around the Moon. The mission concluded on April 10 with a flawless splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, marking a successful end to a historic flight.
This HD video provided by NASA shows the SLS upper stage of the Artemis rocket—known as the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS)—separated from the spacecraft after delivering Orion to space during the April 1 launch.
From space, Earth looked less like the center of everything (what we feel on the planet) and more like a small “lifeboat” floating in endless darkness, said Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch in her first words after returning from the Moon mission.
When words fail, the Artemis II crew goes for one big group hug Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover got emotional while delivering his first words post the Moon mission, saying he was “afraid to start talking” because he still hasn’t fully processed everything he just experienced. He said the emotions and gratitude he felt were “too big to just be in one body.” The crew has just returned after an almost 10-day mission, with the splashdown occurring at 5:07 PM Pacific Time off the coast of San Diego on April 10.
Artemis II Commander talked about the emotional toll of the mission, saying that being more than 200,000 miles from Earth felt like a dream before the launch on April 1, but reality quickly shifted once they reached space. He shared that the experience deepened his appreciation for home, adding that all he wanted while out there was to return to his family and friends. The crew returned to Earth on April 10.
Fresh from their mission around the Moon, the Artemis II astronauts received a roaring welcome on April 11 from hundreds marking NASA’s historic return to deep space. The crew landed at Ellington Field near Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, after departing San Diego, where their spacecraft splashed down just hours earlier.
The Artemis II crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—safely returned to Earth after their nearly 10-day journey around the Moon. Splashdown occurred at 5:07 PM Pacific Time on April 10 in the Pacific Ocean, where recovery teams swiftly moved in. The astronauts were extracted from Orion and welcomed aboard the USS John P. Murtha, marking a flawless end to a historic mission.
Just before Orion’s crew touched down on April 10, the crew module detached from the service module.
Artemis II astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — are back on Earth! The splashdown successfully took place at 5:07 PM Pacific Time off the coast of San Diego on April 10.