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10h ago

Artemis II Crew Shares First Postflight Takeaways After Record Lunar Loop

Their accounts show growing confidence for the next phase of Artemis.

From left, Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch and Jeremy Hansen, the Artemis II crew, speak during a news conference following their mission around the moon, in Houston, Thursday, April 16, 2026.
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Astronauts who completed the Artemis II mission told reporters they're still decompressing from the experience
The Artemis 2 crew of (from left) Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Jeremy Hansen and Victor Glover with the Orion capsule they flew on the mission after splashdown.

Overview

  • The four astronauts, speaking Thursday at Johnson Space Center, said the 10-day flight met its goals and strengthened their trust as a team.
  • NASA reported the crew tested life support, manually flew Orion, executed course changes, captured far-side views, and returned for a safe splashdown.
  • The crew said Orion handled reentry well and their first look found only small areas of char loss on the heat shield, with detailed inspections now underway.
  • They described fixes to minor glitches, including a clogged toilet vent that pushed them to use collapsible backup urinals and a brief smoke alarm that got their attention.
  • The mission set a new human distance record and now feeds work toward an Artemis III docking test in 2027 and a crewed lunar landing targeted for 2028.