Hours after she splashed down in the Pacific Ocean<\/a> off the coast of San Diego alongside three other astronauts \u2014 pilot Victor Glover, commander Reid Wiseman from NASA and Canadian Space Agency\u2019s Jeremy Hansen \u2014 the mission specialist, 47, reflected on the \u201chuman moments\u201d throughout their record-breaking trip to the moon.<\/p>\n Christina Koch at an event in Houston, Texas, on April 11 During an event in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, April 11, Koch recalled that her journey began with her mission manager, Sean Duval, whispering, \u201cChristina, we\u2019re go for launch. Get up,\u201d per a video shared by WRAL<\/a>.<\/p>\n “And it ended last night, when my nurse on the ship put me to bed and said, ‘Ma\u2019am, can I get a hug?’ ” Koch continued. “A lot has happened since then or between those two moments, but the start and the end were human moments here on Earth.”<\/p>\n Christina Koch on the Orion spacecraft While focusing on the \u201chuman moments\u201d surrounding the first manned moon mission in more than five decades<\/a>, which has since set a record for the furthest distance humans have ever traveled from Earth, Koch came to realize that her idea of what the term \u201ccrew\u201d meant had been \u201ccompletely without value\u201d before their journey.<\/p>\n \u201cA crew is a group that is in it all the time, no matter what, that is stroking together every minute with the same purpose, that is willing to sacrifice silently for each other, that gives grace, that holds accountable,” the astronaut said. \u200b\u200b<\/p>\n \u201cA crew has the same cares and the same needs, and a crew is inescapably, beautifully, dutifully linked,\u201d she continued, looking towards her crewmates. \u201cWhen we saw tiny Earth, people asked our crew what impressions we had. And honestly, what struck me wasn\u2019t necessarily just Earth, it was all the blackness around it.\u201d<\/p>\n The complete darkness surrounding our planet reminded Koch that we are all living on a \u201clifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n Artemis II mission astronauts Jeremy Hansen, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman \u201cI know I haven\u2019t learned everything that this journey has yet to teach me, but there\u2019s one new thing I know,\u201d she concluded. \u201cAnd that is, planet Earth, you are a crew.\u201d<\/p>\n Before their return to Earth, the Artemis II crew shared another emotional moment when they reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth. They decided to name one of two newly discovered moon craters after Commander Wiseman\u2019s late wife<\/a>, Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cA number of years ago, we started this journey in our close-knit astronaut family, and we lost a loved one. And there’s a feature in a really neat place on the moon,\u201d Hansen said to mission control, per Space<\/a>. \u201cAt certain times \u2026 we will be able to see this from Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so we lost a loved one, her name is Carroll, the spouse of Reid, the mother of Katie and Ellie,” Hansen continued as the crew began to tear up. “And it’s a bright spot on the moon \u2014 and we would like to call it Carroll.”<\/p>\n![\"Christina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a98cae9b0b8e6b880e490dafa1ac8076.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: Danielle Villasana\/Getty<\/p>\n![\"Christina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bdfacdd381f9f924b41dba12fdb86d89.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: NASA via Getty<\/p>\n![\"Artemis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a32b9e0fadd6bfde94d685a1e524c56c.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: RONALDO SCHEMIDT \/ AFP via Getty<\/p>\n