The Artemis II team, which broke the half-century silence in space and reunited humanity with deep space, has finally set its feet on the ground. The most meaningful stop of the journey for the four astronauts, who completed a gigantic 1.1 million kilometer tour around the Moon and landed in the Pacific, was Houston, where they met with their families on Saturday.
‘THE WORLD WAS AS MUCH AS A BASKETBALL’
Mission Commander Reid Wiseman, who was at the microphone at the ceremony, seemed to still not get over the shock he experienced. Reminding that they entered the atmosphere at a speed of Mach 39 the day before, Wiseman summarized his situation by saying, “Just 20 hours ago, when I looked out of the window, the huge Earth looked the size of a basketball. Now we are at home.” Wiseman candidly admitted that being in space seems like a dream, but once you get there, all you want is to reunite with your family.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman stated that he did not agree with the astronauts’ modesty of “being forgotten in the future” and said, “Thank you for showing us the Moon and our home again. Artemis II will never be forgotten.” The ceremony ended with emotional moments where the crew hugged each other and their families.
The messages from other members of the team were quite philosophical. Christina Koch described the Earth as “an unshakable lifeboat suspended in the middle of the universe” when viewed from the Moon. Addressing humanity, she said, “We are all actually the crew of the same ship, that is, the Earth.”
Victor Glover says that his experiences are too big and intense to fit into a single body; Jeremy Hansen emphasized that their success is actually a reflection of all humanity.
This landing is not just the end of a 10-day mission; It was recorded as the biggest rehearsal for the Artemis III journey, in which humanity will set foot on the Moon’s surface again.
