NASA’s Artemis II lunar mission is set to return to Earth, and the crew says it has a lot of pictures and a lot of stories to tell the world, the BBC reports.
The four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft have wrapped up their lunar orbiting mission and are expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego at around 8pm local time on Friday. Speaking to the media during the return journey, mission pilot Victor Glover said the team can’t wait to share their experiences.
Asked about the return to Earth, Glover said: “We have to get back. There’s so much data that you’ve already seen, but all the good stuff is coming back with us.” He added that a lot of images have been taken, but there are still two days before the team can really begin to comprehend what they have experienced. Glover stressed that the mission will be remembered and remembered for the rest of his life.
The Artemis II mission on the 6th of April broke the previous record for the farthest spaceflight by humanity, which was 400,000 kilometers, which had been held by the Apollo 13 mission since 1970. The Artemis II mission did not plan to land on the moon, but Orion circled the moon, also viewing its dark side, which is never visible from Earth. Satellite images of the moon’s dark side have been obtained before, but this time the astronauts were the first people to see it with their own eyes. Immediately after the resumption of communication with the astronauts, US President Donald Trump spoke, saying that
the Artemis II mission participants had made history and made all of America feel truly proud.
In a recent press conference on the 8th of April, which was attended by reporters at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, the four astronauts answered questions live. The astronauts were also asked about their feelings during the 40 minutes they were without communication with Earth. Spacecraft commander Reid Wiseman said the team had a lot of science to do, but they also took a moment to stop and think about where they were. Glover said the greatest gift of the mission was watching a lunar eclipse from the dark side. Wiseman cited the moment when the team named a lunar crater after his late wife, Carol, as a memorable one.
Astronaut Christina Koch said the thing she will miss most about the mission is the camaraderie, but there are no things she won’t miss. She emphasized that you can’t do deeper research if you don’t have to make some inconveniences, sacrifice something, and take some risks, and everything is worth it.
The team still has one final test ahead of them – a fiery journey through the Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of more than 40,000 kilometers per hour and a landing in the Pacific Ocean.
Read also: NASA’s Artemis II Moon mission – a step towards humans on the Moon