It was a hero’s welcome for the four-person Artemis II crew following a textbook splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday evening.The astronauts arrived Saturday at Ellington Field at Johnson Space Center in Houston to cheers, a standing ovation and hugs from NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman. The crewmates reunited with their families at the site for the first time since their historic 10-day journey around the moon concluded.Isaacman referred to the mission as “the greatest adventure in human history.”(From left) Artemis II astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman are seen onstage Saturday at Ellington Field at Johnson Space Center in Houston. – Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP/Getty ImagesThe crew — NASA’s Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen — completed a record-breaking lunar flyby. The astronauts traveled deeper into space than any human had ventured before. The Artemis II mission was a test flight, serving as an experiment to lay the groundwork for future missions. But the moment of reuniting with their loved ones has been among the most anticipated steps of the crew’s journey.AdvertisementAdvertisement“Victor, Christina and Jeremy, we are, we are bonded forever, and no one down here is ever going to know what the four of us just went through,” Wiseman said. “And it was the most special thing that will ever happen in my life.”No place like planet EarthWiseman acknowledged that no one will truly know what the crew’s families went through.“This was not easy being 200,000-plus miles away from home,” Wiseman said. “Like, 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. It’s a special thing to be a human and it’s a special thing to be on planet Earth.” Wiseman was visibly choked up, and the four crewmembers stood to hug on stage.(From left) NASA’s Reid Wiseman and CSA’s Jeremy Hansen talk with NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on the flight deck of USS John P. Murtha after splashdown on Friday in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. – Bill Ingalls/NASAGlover admitted he has not fully processed the entire mission and “what we just did” yet, but was full of gratitude.AdvertisementAdvertisement“When this started, 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 said.“And I wanted to thank our families for everything,” he added. “I love you, but not just those five beautiful cocoa-skinned ladies right there,” Glover said, gesturing to his family. “All of you.”NASA’s Victor Glover (second from left) and Christina Koch sit on a Navy MH-60 Seahawk on the flight deck of USS John P. Murtha after splashdown on Friday. – Bill Ingalls/NASA‘You are a crew’Koch shared that her nurse on the Navy recovery ship asked her for a hug last night, one of many great “human moments” that began and ended the mission, she said. Artemis II truly taught her the meaning of what it is to be part of a crew, Koch said.“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 …
