Artemis II pilot Victor Glover spoke Saturday at Ellington Field at Johnson Space Center in Houston, reuniting with his family for the first time since the historic 10-day mission concluded with a splashdown Friday night in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. Standing onstage alongside commander Reid Wiseman, mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, Glover admitted he hasn’t fully processed the mission yet — or what the crew accomplished.
But he knew exactly what he wanted to say.
What Did Victor Glover Say After Artemis II Splashdown?
“When this started, I wanted to thank God in public, and I want to thank God again,” Glover said. “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.”
He then turned to his family — his wife and five daughters — before opening his message to everyone in the room and everyone who had followed the mission from Earth.
“I love you,” Glover said. “But not just those five beautiful cocoa-skinned ladies right there. All of you.”
Glover was one of four astronauts who completed NASA’s Artemis II mission, the first crewed test flight to the vicinity of the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. The crew traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history, witnessed a solar eclipse from behind the Moon and returned safely after 10 days in space. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called it “the greatest adventure in human history.”
The crew’s reunion with their families at Ellington Field was one of the most anticipated moments of the entire mission — and for Glover, it was exactly what he needed after a journey too big for any one person to carry alone.
This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Apr 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.