Fresh off humanity’s first crewed moon mission in more than 50 years, the Artemis 2 astronauts are stepping into the spotlight, switching modes from mission debrief to media tour.
Over the last week, the astronauts of NASA’s Artemis 2 mission have made their way up the East Coast from where their Space Launch System rocket launched them to the moon at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, exactly one month ago, through Washington, D.C., and on to the Big Apple, all while receiving a heroes’ welcome back to Earth.
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NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen launched on a 10-day mission to the moon on April 1. During their time in space, the Artemis 2 crew captivated the world with spectacular imagery of our celestial neighbor, as well as heartfelt sentiments of teamwork and togetherness that resonated with millions back on Earth.
After their celebrated Pacific Ocean splashdown on April 10, the crew were quickly flown back to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for initial postmission tests. Now, with much of those complete, the astronauts are telling their story to the world.
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“Now that we’re out in the public, it’s great to see how much this was inspiring to other folks,” Glover told the hosts of “The Today Show” on Thursday. That also happened to be Glover’s birthday, which he was able to celebrate during the crew’s appearance that night on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” where the astronauts voted Glover (who is bald) as the astronaut aboard Orion with the best zero-g hair.
“CBS Mornings” tried to connect the crew with some of those inspired by their mission during the program on Friday morning (May 1), when the show invited a group of children into the studio to ask the astronauts some questions directly.
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Their first came from Lizzy, age 17, who asked how teamwork played a role in the success of the Artemis 2 mission, to which Koch emphasized the importance of teamwork across all walks of life.
“Teamwork is the epitome of what we do, not only in human spaceflight, but probably every endeavor that you take on,” Koch said. “The walls here [at CBS’s studios] say, ‘a celebration of heroes,’ and I want to be clear: that is not us four. That is the people on the ground that have been working on this mission for 20 years, plus. That is you all that followed this mission and supported it. That is our teammates in mission control, the rocket, the launch. Teamwork is 100% everything. We learned. When we saw the most amazing things in the universe, they humbled us. They made us realize that we are nothing without each other.”
