The crew of the Artemis II mission returned to Earth and was solemnly welcomed on Saturday at Ellington Field near the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Hundreds of NASA employees and guests greeted the astronauts after an almost 10-day mission around the Moon. This was reported by AP with reference to NASA, writes UNN.
Details
Upon arrival from San Diego, the astronauts met with their families, and then went out to the crowd of space agency employees. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called the mission historic and emphasized that "the long wait is over" after more than half a century since the last human flight to the Moon.
Crew commander Reid Wiseman called the flight a "challenge," emphasizing that space flights show the fragility of human life. Pilot Victor Glover thanked his family and team, and Christina Koch shared her impressions of the view of Earth from space, calling the planet "a lifeboat in the darkness of space."
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen thanked the team for their endurance during launch delays.
Records and significance of the mission
During the mission, the crew reached a maximum distance of 406,771 km from Earth, which was a record for manned deep space flights. The astronauts took pictures of the far side of the Moon and captured a rare shot of the Earth setting behind the lunar horizon. The mission was also accompanied by a total solar eclipse.
Despite the success, the astronauts faced technical problems, including a malfunction of the space toilet, which NASA promised to fix before the next missions.
Further NASA plans
Artemis II was the first manned flight to the Moon after the end of the Apollo program in 1972. The next stage will be the Artemis III mission, scheduled for next year, with testing of docking with the lunar module. In 2028, the Artemis IV mission is to ensure the landing of astronauts near the Moon's south pole.
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