![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775980270_526_39c9b152eb0aa30d1661034de1cd7ec2502c2293.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTheir homecoming was poignant: they returned to NASA\u2019s Houston base on the 56th anniversary of Apollo 13\u2019s launch, whose \u201cHouston, we\u2019ve had a problem\u201d refrain turned a near-disaster into a triumph.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have absolutely no idea what to say,\u201d said Wiseman, triggering laughter from the audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwenty hours ago, the Earth was that big out the window,\u201d he said, using his hands to suggest the size of a basketball, \u201cand we were doing Mach 39. And here we are back at Ellington, at home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wiseman said the mission was \u201cthe most special thing I ever went through in my life\u201d.<\/p>\n
![\"Mission](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/16312799d051184d776ec6a8b5c5363ddba8135b.jpeg\")
Mission specialist Christina Koch speaks to the audience at the NASA homecoming event.AP<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was not easy,\u201d he added. \u201cBefore you launch, it feels like it\u2019s the greatest dream on Earth. And when you\u2019re out there, you just want to get back to your families and your friends. It\u2019s a special thing to be a human, and it\u2019s a special thing to be on planet Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pilot Victor Glover said: \u201cI have not processed what we just did, and I\u2019m afraid to start even trying.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0c3bbc7cf147fe6118c629ebb1d6db16162d12f2.jpeg\")
The Artemis II crew speak after their successful mission to orbit the moon.AP<\/p>\n
Hansen said the four of them embodied love, \u201cand extracting joy out of that\u201d as they joined to stand in a row, embracing one another.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you look up here, you\u2019re not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you. And if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper. This is you.\u201d<\/p>\n
During Artemis II\u2019s nearly 10-day mission, the astronauts voyaged deeper into space than the moon explorers of decades past and captured views of the lunar far side never witnessed before by human eyes. A total solar eclipse added to the cosmic wonder.<\/p>\n
\u2018Honestly, what struck me wasn\u2019t necessarily just Earth, it was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbedly in the universe.\u2019<\/p>\n
Christina Koch, Artemis II astronaut<\/p>\n
On their record-breaking flyby, the astronauts reached a maximum 406,771 kilometres from Earth before hanging a U-turn behind the moon, eclipsing Apollo\u2019s 13 distance record.<\/p>\n
The mission also revealed a new side of our planet with an Earthset photo, showing our Blue Marble setting behind the grey, pockmarked moon. The image echoed the famous Earthrise shot from 1968 taken by the world\u2019s first lunar visitors on Apollo 8.<\/p>\n
![\"Bearing](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/349f82ee88fa28d6a4572b33ca88299fa1e17f95.jpeg\")
Bearing the scars of its fiery reentry, the Artemis II capsule sits safely aboard the USS John P. Murtha on Saturday.AP<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, what struck me wasn\u2019t necessarily just Earth, it was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbedly in the universe,\u201d Koch said. \u201cPlanet Earth, you are a crew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the accomplishments, Artemis II astronauts had to contend with a more mundane problem \u2013 a malfunctioning space toilet. NASA promised a design fix before longer moon-landing missions.<\/p>\n
![\"Artemis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/03bf033dd50f0bdba3d5014bcb88b88afedeead2.jpeg\")
Artemis II splashed down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.AP<\/p>\n
Wiseman, Glover, Koch and Hansen were the first humans to fly to the moon since Apollo 17 wrapped up NASA\u2019s first lunar exploration era in 1972. Twenty-four astronauts flew to the moon during Apollo, and 12 walked on the lunar surface.<\/p>\n
Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell \u2013 who also flew on Apollo 8 \u2013 cheered the Artemis II crew on in a wake-up message recorded before he died last summer.<\/p>\n
It was crucial for NASA that Artemis II went well. The space agency is already preparing for next year\u2019s Artemis III mission, which will see a new crew practice docking its capsule with a lunar lander in orbit around Earth. That will set the stage for the all-important Artemis IV moon landing in 2028, when two astronauts attempt a touchdown near the lunar south pole.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe long wait is over. After a brief 53-year intermission, the show goes on,\u201d Isaacman said.<\/p>\n
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![\"Artemis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a31d54e1ce100ee0f6bf5e32f08d75a0e7a3f7c9.jpeg\")
Artemis crew members Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman appear in Houston.AP<\/p>\n