{"id":245807,"date":"2026-04-12T02:57:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T02:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/245807\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T02:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T02:57:06","slug":"artemis-ii-astronauts-make-emotional-return-to-houston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/245807\/","title":{"rendered":"Artemis II astronauts make emotional return to Houston"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"From<\/p>\n

From left, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman, the Artemis II crew, are welcomed on stage during a press conference following their mission around the moon in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"The<\/p>\n

The Artemis astronauts are welcomed back to Houston at Ellington Field in Houston, Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"The<\/p>\n

The Artemis II crew is welcomed on stage during a press conference following their mission around the moon in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"The<\/p>\n

The Artemis astronauts hug as they are welcomed back to Houston at Ellington Field in Houston, Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Victor<\/p>\n

Victor Glover, pilot of the Artemis II mission, is welcomed on stage during a press conference in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"NASA<\/p>\n

NASA astronauts gather to welcome back the Artemis II astronauts at Ellington Field in Houston, Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"People<\/p>\n

People wait to welcome the Artemis II astronauts back to Houston at Ellington Field in Houston, Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"From<\/p>\n

From left, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman, the Artemis II crew, are welcomed on stage during a press conference following their mission around the moon in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"NASA<\/p>\n

NASA astronauts gather to welcome back the Artemis II astronauts at Ellington Field in Houston, Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Jeremy<\/p>\n

Jeremy Hansen, a mission specialist on the Artemis II mission, is welcomed on stage during a press conference in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Christina<\/p>\n

Christina Koch, a mission specialist on the Artemis II mission, is welcomed on stage during a press conference in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"The<\/p>\n

The Artemis II crew is welcomed on stage during a press conference following their mission around the moon in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Christina<\/p>\n

Christina Koch, a mission specialist on the Artemis II mission, speaks on stage during a press conference in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Victor<\/p>\n

Victor Glover, pilot of the Artemis II mission, speaks on stage during a press conference in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"The<\/p>\n

The Artemis II crew is welcomed on stage during a press conference following their mission around the moon in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"The<\/p>\n

The Artemis II crew is welcomed on stage during a press conference following their mission around the moon in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Jeremy<\/p>\n

Jeremy Hansen, a mission specialist on the Artemis II mission, is welcomed on stage during a press conference in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Reid<\/p>\n

Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II mission, is welcomed on stage during a press conference in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Reid<\/p>\n

Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II mission, is welcomed on stage during a press conference in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Vanessa<\/p>\n

Vanessa E. Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, speaks during a press conference welcoming home the Artemis II astronauts in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"NASA<\/p>\n

NASA astronauts and attendees cheer as the Artemis II crew walks on stage during a press conference welcoming them home in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"Norman<\/p>\n

Norman D. Knight, director of flight operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, speaks during a press conference welcoming home the Artemis II astronauts following their mission around the moon in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"NASA<\/p>\n

NASA astronauts gather to welcome back the Artemis II astronauts at Ellington Field in Houston, Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle\"The<\/p>\n

The Artemis II crew is welcomed on stage during a press conference following their mission around the moon in Houston on Saturday, April 11, 2026.<\/p>\n

Raquel Natalicchio\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n

The Artemis II astronauts were emotional \u2013 laughing, smiling and fighting back tears \u2013 as they attempted to convey how flying around the moon<\/a> changed their lives and their perspectives of the world.<\/p>\n

They stood on a stage at Ellington Field less than 24 hours after splashdown<\/a> and spoke about unity and being part of a crew. They expressed love for their families. And they couldn\u2019t believe how spacious that stage felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the farthest I’ve been away from Reid in a long time,\u201d Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen joked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch joined Hansen on Saturday to celebrate their flight around the moon and safe return home.<\/p>\n

TELL US: What are your thoughts on the Artemis II mission?<\/a><\/p>\n

They greeted their families in private before addressing a large room with astronauts, NASA officials and reporters.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore you launch, it feels like it’s the greatest dream on Earth,\u201d Wiseman said. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Artemis II mission lasted nine days, one hour, 32 minutes and 15 seconds. It flew four astronauts around the moon and went farther from Earth than humans have ever traveled.<\/p>\n

The mission was a test of NASA\u2019s Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. Saturday was a celebration of its crew.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a celebration of four pioneers who represent the very best of humanity, who traveled farther than any humans have gone before and who carried all of us along with them,\u201d said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center.<\/p>\n

WHAT’S NEXT: When could NASA return to the moon?<\/a><\/p>\n

Glover chose to keep his remarks brief, thanking God and his family, as he was \u201cafraid to start talking.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cI have not processed what we just did,\u201d Glover said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Koch, after describing what it means to be part of a crew, emphasized the blackness of space that she saw around Earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEarth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe,\u201d she said. \u201cI know I haven’t learned everything that this journey has yet to teach me, but there’s one new thing I know. Planet Earth, you are a crew.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hansen focused on their qualities that captivated the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you saw was a group of people who loved contributing, having meaningful contribution and extracting joy out of that,\u201d Hansen said. \u201cI would suggest to you that when you look up here, you’re not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you. And if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After the event, the Artemis II astronauts were heading to the Johnson Space Center for additional medical evaluations. They would get to remain with their families, which marked a key moment for the mission, said Norm Knight, director of flight operations at the Johnson Space Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith their safe return to their families,\u201d he said, \u201cthe Artemis II mission is now complete.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From left, Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman, the Artemis II crew, are welcomed on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":{"0":"post-245807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-houston-headlines","10":"tag-houston-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}