Artemis II astronauts describe 'unbelievable' lunar eclipse ahead of re-entry, splashdown

Talking about space travel and "unbelievable" sights of the dark side of the moon are all fun and game: Until you remember you're going to be "riding in a fireball" and falling into Earth at speeds of up to 23,839 mph.

"Riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound," Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover told reporters aboard the Orion capsule in a rare space-to-Earth news conference late Wednesday night.

"We have to get back," he said, noting the end goal of the mission in contrast to pontification on the experience.

Glover said he has been thinking about splashdown since the day the astronauts were assigned to the mission in April 2023.

"The entry thing, I'll be honest and say I've actually been thinking about entry since April 3rd, 2023, when we got assigned to this mission," Glover said. "And one of the first press conferences, we were asked what are we looking forward to?

"And I said, 'splashdown.' And it's kind of humorous, but it's literal, as well, that we have to get back."

While NASA’s Artemis II crew has already delivered dramatic views and historic milestones from deep space, Glover said the journey is not complete until Orion survives the high-speed plunge back through the atmosphere and lands off the Southern California coast.

“You know this, it started off sounding like an easy question for me to answer. Then it got really big,” Glover said when asked about re-entry and what moments he would carry with him for the rest of his life.

"There's so much data that you've seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. There's so many more pictures, so many more stories.”

He added that the mission’s significance will stay with him for life.

“And lifelong memories I'm going to be thinking about and talking about all of these things for the rest of my life, for sure,” Glover said.

The Artemis II crew is scheduled to splash down off the coast of San Diego on Friday evening at 8:07 p.m. ET, capping a mission that NASA sees as a key step toward future lunar flights.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Canadian Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen said Artemis II has not changed his worldview so much as confirmed it, telling reporters that the mission reinforced his belief in both Earth’s fragility and humanity’s responsibility to work together.

Speaking during Wednesday night’s rare space-to-Earth news conference, Hansen said the crew had witnessed extraordinary scenes during the flight, including sights that went beyond what he had imagined before launch.

“We have seen just some extraordinary things, things that I thought we might see; they looked similar to what I thought they might look like; and other things that I just had never even imagined,” Hansen said. “And those were different perspectives that we saw these things from. 

"But, I have to say, it hasn't changed my perspective or the perspective that I launched with.”

Hansen said that perspective began with an appreciation for Earth’s vulnerability in space and has only been strengthened by the mission.

“The perspective I launched with was that we live on a fragile planet, in the vacuum and the void of space,” Hansen said. “We know this from science. We're very fortunate to live on planet Earth.”

He added that the experience also reaffirmed a broader belief about human purpose.

“And the other perspective that I've sort of learned from others through life is that, you know, our purpose on the planet as humans is to find joy, to find the joy and lifting each other up by creating solutions together instead of destroying,” Hansen said. “And when you see it from out here, it doesn't change it. 

"It just absolutely reaffirms that. It's almost like seeing living proof of it."

The Artemis II mission might have broken records and made all-time human achievement for being the furthest travel away from Earth, but it is merely a floor and not a ceiling, according to mission specialist Christina Koch.

"Part of our ethos as a crew and our values from the very beginning were that this is a relay race," said Koch, the first woman to the moon, who already holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman (328 days) and was part of the first all-female spacewalk.

"In fact, we have batons that we bought to symbolize physically that we plan to hand them to the next crew. And every single thing that we do is with them in mind."

Speaking during the Orion news conference with media on Earth late Wednesday night, Koch said she is helping test everything from Orion’s manual piloting and procedures to evaluating food, provisions and other human-system details inside the spacecraft.

"Oftentimes it's actually easier in human spaceflight, especially on a first mission, to accept some of the things that aren't working quite right or the operational workarounds, and we have actually been diligent to try to fix everything," she continued. "And we're always thinking from the perspective is: What is the next crew going to think about this? How will this help them to succeed?"

It is ultimately about furthering the space program, getting back on the moon as soon as 2028, and potentially using the moon to slingshot to Mars.

"So both in the vehicle and all in the last three years, we've really just worked to make sure that they are set up for success, and that's the all of the teams, not just the crew, but the flight control teams, the mission, engineering rooms, the launch teams, everyone," she concluded.

"Hopefully we've done our best to bring folks together and to make sure that we can be the best that can be. Obviously, just testing, putting humans in this vehicle is the easy thing to see, and we hope that we've capitalized on that and made it as much as it can be for our time here."

Artemis II pilot Victor Glover said there was no amount of training that could have prepared the crew for the never-seen-before sights aboard the Orion capsule.

"We trained to view the eclipse from the far side of the moon, or after going beyond the far side of the moon," he told the media in the rare Earth-to-space news conference with the media late Wednesday night.

"We saw great simulations made by our lunar science team, but when that actually happened, it just blew us all away.

"I mean, you heard the reaction in real time."

There was slight "disappointment" in the lack of light, due to the delayed launch date, but that faded into darkness, too, he said.

"I don't want to say unhappy about," the later launch, he said, "but launching on April 1 meant the far side wasn't as illuminated as we were hoping.

"And so, you know, that thing seemed to be a consolation, and it was one of the greatest gifts of that part of the mission."

The San Diego-based USS John P. Murtha will recover NASA’s four Artemis II astronauts when their Orion capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean west of San Diego on Friday at 8:07 p.m. ET, according to the U.S. Navy.

Commanding Officer Capt. Erik Kenny said the crew is "honored" to support NASA and the Artemis II mission.

The amphibious transport dock ship, LPD 26, has been designated as the recovery vessel for the mission’s return.

The 684-foot John P. Murtha is well suited for the job because it has a well deck, helicopter pad, onboard medical facilities and communications systems needed for astronaut and spacecraft recovery.

For the recovery operation, MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopters from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 23 will track Orion during reentry and help transport the astronauts after splashdown. Navy divers from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 1 will recover the capsule from the ocean and move it into the ship’s well deck, while a dive medical team will help assess the crew after they exit the spacecraft.

The ship has also been conducting mission-specific preparation.

The Murtha has been underway in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations performing just-in-time training in support of the Artemis II recovery mission. It departed Naval Base San Diego on Monday to travel to 50 to 60 miles offshore where Orion will touch down with the use of 11 parachutes.

"I'll breathe easier when we get through reentry and everybody’s under chutes and in the water," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said at Tuesday's news conference.