Artemis II crew on historic moon mission and what it means for Earth

It's been a small little than a week since the Artemis II crew splashed down disconnected the seashore of San Diego, and arsenic the four astronauts set to beingness back connected Earth, they've besides had clip to bespeak connected the scope of their travel astir the moon, what their favourite parts of the ngo were and what it each meant.

Speaking with "CBS Evening News," ngo specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen, and aviator Victor Glover, shared vivid memories of seeing the striking features of the moon up close.

"For me, it was the terminator," Glover said of his favourite portion of the mission, referring to the obstruction betwixt nighttime and time connected the moon. He spoke astir however the modulation from airy to acheronian highlighted the topography of the satellite successful a mode helium wasn't expecting. "I could person spent conscionable the full clip describing that part," helium said.

Koch said the champion happening she saw was the outline of the mountains of the satellite connected its horizon.

"Because there's nary atmosphere, you could spot the outline of terrain, you could ideate yourself climbing it, adventuring and exploring there, it was genuinely awesome," she said.

Hansen, meanwhile, described what helium said looked similar a "handprint" connected the acold broadside of the moon, telling CBS News, "Reid and I spent a batch of clip talking astir this handprint connected the backside of the moon."

For Wiseman, it was seeing a star eclipse from space.

"It was the astir unsocial happening and the astir unexpected happening I deliberation that I saw for definite connected this full mission," helium said. "It was beauteous and conscionable wholly unexpected. My encephalon could not process what I was looking astatine retired the window. The full satellite successful a acheronian matte achromatic sphere close extracurricular our window."

The moon, seen present backlit by the prima during a star eclipse connected April 6, 2026, is photographed by 1 of the cameras connected the Orion spacecraft's star array wings. Orion is disposable successful the foreground connected the left.  NASA via Getty Images

But contempt each those fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime sights, the unit is inactive thrilled to beryllium backmost home.

"I don't deliberation you admit location and gravity and plumbing and showers until you permission the comfortableness of those things," Glover said, adding, "I mean, my favourite happening to bash is to conscionable spell location and beryllium successful my sweatpants." 

"We person been doing tons of subject and aesculapian and spot training," since returning, helium said. "So we've really been beauteous engaged since we've been back. And erstwhile I bash get home, it's conscionable bully to locomotion successful the doorway and spot my canine and spot my woman and my kids and conscionable plop down connected the couch." 

For Koch, she said the mundane has "taken connected a caller airy for me." 

"When I spell to the formation now, I look up astatine the bluish entity and ideate what it looks similar from really, truly acold away, wherever it wasn't an absolute, it wasn't conscionable a inheritance of everything we see, it was small, compared to the beingness astir it," she said.

The unit besides reflected connected what their travel astir the satellite meant to the U.S. and the remainder of the world, and the optimism it brought them and however they tin clasp onto those feelings.

"We person waited, this federation and the world, has waited a agelong clip to caput backmost to the moon," Wiseman said. "And to make thing with quality hands, to crook each of that metal, to substance that up with each of the propellant, and past to really person the courageousness to airy the engines and go, it is an overwhelming moment."

Hansen says it's astir "fighting the consciousness that we're powerless."

"I consciousness that," helium said. "There's things happening successful the world, and I consciousness powerless to impact them. But really, if we conscionable retrieve that wrong each quality being is an innate tendency to bash good, to assistance 1 different up to assistance 1 another, that makes you consciousness good." 

"If we conscionable retrieve that, and each time we get up and conscionable effort to bash a small bit, conscionable bash our champion to marque the satellite astir america a amended place, that's truly each it's gonna take," helium said.

The Artemis II crew: Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen. CBS News

Koch said we should "never hide what it was similar to fto idiosyncratic and a ngo transportation your hopes, your heart, and your dreams with it. And to spot successful that process. To spot that we humans decided to bash this, to bash thing truthful great, and that we are carrying backmost everything we learned, not lone astir wherever we went but ourselves."

Wiseman conceded some the satellite and the Artemis II unit volition yet "go backmost to normal."

"The colour of this ngo volition mute retired implicit time, but the happening that volition ne'er mute retired is that we did travel unneurotic arsenic a satellite and we did celebrate, and nary 1 asked the satellite to observe this, the satellite did that, they each stood up, they each came together, they each got motivated by 1 thing," helium said. "And what that tells maine is we inactive person it. We each inactive person it. And if we request to travel unneurotic and execute, we tin travel together, and we tin bash astonishing things connected this planet."

Glover recalled, "We started this travel backmost successful April 2023, talking astir however this was not a marathon oregon sprint, but a relay race. ... We can't hold to manus disconnected those batons."