Artemis II crew say they are ‘bonded forever’ after historic moon voyage as they break silence after returning to Houston

The crew of Artemis II returned to Houston and said they were ‘forever bound’ after completing the historic moon flyby.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, along with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, have completed a ten-day mission that will take them around the moon and farther than any human has ever traveled in space before.

The group received a standing ovation when they returned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, on Saturday to speak for the first time since crashing into the Pacific Ocean.

‘We are connected to each other forever. And no one here will ever know what the four of us just went through. It was the most special thing to ever happen in my life,” Wiseman said.

The commander became emotional as he explained that being hundreds of thousands of kilometers away from Earth “wasn’t easy” but that the crew enjoyed the experience with each other.

‘Man, it wasn’t easy being over 200,000 kilometers away from home. Just like before the launch, it feels like the biggest dream in the world. “And when you get there, you just want to go back to your family and friends,” he said.

‘Being human is a special thing, and being on planet Earth is a special thing.’

Koch added that after the mission to fly past the moon, he and his crewmates were ‘inevitable, beautiful and bonded by a sense of duty.’

“This is the furthest I’ve been from Reid in a long time,” Jeremy Hansen said while speaking at the press conference.

They returned to Earth late Friday night and landed off the coast of California after 10 days in space.

Glover reflected on his faith and thanked God and his family after the mission.

‘When this started on April 3, I wanted to thank God in front of everyone. “And I want to thank God once again,” he said.

‘The gratitude of seeing what we see, doing what we do, and being with the person I am with. “It’s too big to be in one body.”

Koch said what caught his attention the most during his time around the moon was the darkness surrounding the Earth.

‘Honestly, it wasn’t just the Earth that affected me, but all the darkness around it. Earth was nothing more than a lifeboat suspended undisturbed in the universe.

I know I haven’t yet learned everything this journey has to teach me. But one thing I know new is Planet Earth, you are a team.’

This is a developing story, please check for updates.