'We came back as best friends': Artemis II astronauts reflect on their historic trip around the moon

spaceman Jeremy Hansen describes 'mind-blowing' cynthia II experiences

francis scott key moments from Artemis II's mission, from launch to splashdown

Artemis II successfully returns to Earth

Artemis II crew exit capsule after returning to Earth

Artemis II mission breaks record set by Apollo 13

'We are a mirror reflecting you’: Jeremy Hansen

The weird stuff space does to the human body

NASA looks ahead to Artemis III after successful lunar mission

Wiseman says a few "cautions and warnings" came up throughout the trip — notably a smoke detector going off on the second-last day. 

"You want to get somebody's attention really quick, make the fire alarm go off in your spacecraft when you're still about 80,000 miles from home," he said. 

Wiseman said the smoke detector sets off an automated sequence that shuts down ventilation and power systems. 

"It was tense," he said. "It wasn't scary, but it was tense for a few minutes, until we got things reconfigured."

Artemis II’s toilet: A space odyssey

We sent four humans farther than any humans have ever gone in space. We also sent a toilet. This is the story of that toilet.

Wiseman defended the spacecraft’s toilet, after much was made of problems with its vent line when the crew was in space. 

“That was a wonderful toilet. The toilet worked great,” he said. 

Wiseman explained that the toilet "flushed just fine" for the first two days. He said the tank could hold about "10 urination events" before needing to be vented, and it was "interesting" to watch it vent out into space. 

After the vent line got clogged, he acknowledged that "put a limitation on us." 

The crew was asked about NASA removing language from its materials stating that the first Artemis moon landing would mark the first woman and the first person of colour on the moon.

Koch said her understanding of the statement had been that the Artemis campaign as a whole would usher in an era where that sort of progress would "happen naturally."

"Our astronaut core, because of decisions we made collectively decades ago, represents our entire country and our entire world, in many ways. We're proud of that," she said. 

Hansen said some of the discourse he’s seen about the Artemis II trip since returning has brought him joy and more hope for the future. 

“Humans are just great people, in general. We don't always do great things … but our default is to be good and to be good to one another,” he said.

“What I've seen has brought me more joy … more hope for our future. And I just can't wait to see what we do with it next."

When asked if they’ve had any weird dreams, Koch said that sometimes she wakes up and thinks that she is floating and that she has to convince herself that she is actually in a bed.

She also said that she recently dropped a shirt after she let it go, thinking it would float. (Astronaut problems, amirite?)

Hansen said that he’s been sleeping better now that Wiseman isn’t kicking him from below.

That camaraderie between the astronauts is real. When the four returned to Earth and were picked up by the ship at sea, they went to their bunks, which were eight feet apart. Koch said it felt strange for them to be so far away from each other.

The crew members say the impact of their trip is still sinking in one week after their landing. 

"It's very hard to fully grasp what we just went through," Wiseman said, adding the week has been full of medical and physical testing. "We have not had that decompression, we have not had that reflection time." 

Pilot Victor Glover said he’s been avoiding social media and the news since his return. 

Mission specialist Christina Koch said she "doesn’t necessarily like attention" but that it’s been emotional to learn about the impact the trip has had on people who followed along.

"When my husband said, 'No really, you've made a difference,' it brought tears to my eyes," she said. "I think we're ready to share in that inspiration." 

'We are bonded forever,' commander says of Artemis II astronauts

Reid Wiseman, a NASA astronaut and commander of the Artemis II mission, offered thanks to his crew and the public for supporting the historic space mission. The team of astronauts started the mission as friends and returned as best friends, Wiseman said.

In his opening remarks, commander Reid Wiseman said the four astronauts on the Artemis II mission are bonded forever. 

"I am here to tell the world we launched as friends, and we came back as best friends," Wiseman said.

The astronauts came out and sat at the table three minutes before the broadcast started.

They did their mic checks, and then Reid said, “Jeremy just asked me to get the crowd fired up.”

So we all cheered and clapped.

I ran into a few interesting folks from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

There's Rene Pelletier, a sports medicine osteopath consulting with the CSA, Yannick Laflamme, a CSA exercise specialist and finally, Natalie Hirsch, lead for exercise and nutrition support.

All of them are working hard to ensure Jeremy Hansen’s transition from a space environment back to an Earth environment goes smoothly.

Hirsch said that it’s going well, as it was a short mission and the effects of microgravity aren’t as significant as they see with a long-duration mission.

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman revealed on X that he was supposed to leave Rise, the adorable plush toy mascot, aboard the Integrity but couldn't part with it. 

"That was not something I was going to do," he wrote in response to some who pointed out that Wiseman was carrying Rise along with him aboard the USS John P. Murtha last Friday after their successful splashdown. 

"I stuffed that little guy in a dry bag we had in our survival kit and hooked the bag onto my pressure suit."

In a later post, Wiseman said Rise is currently tethered to his water bottle. 

The plushie accompanied the astronauts on their lunar mission not only for moral support but as a zero gravity indicator. Rise was based on the winning design by an eight-year-old named Lucas from Mountain View, Calif., as part of an international competition. 

PS- it’s hard not to love this little guy. I cant let Rise out of my sight…currently tethered to my water bottle. <a href="https://t.co/U8UZYUVQiy">pic.twitter.com/U8UZYUVQiy</a>

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