The Artemis II astronauts, who recently completed a historic lunar fly-around, reunited with their capsule on Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center. This marked their first visit to the Florida spaceport since their April launch, an event that saw the massive Space Launch System rocket atop the launch pad.
Commander Reid Wiseman described the launch pad as "a lonely place without that rocket on it." The crew spent the day expressing gratitude to the teams involved in their mission. During their flight, the four astronauts—three from NASA and one from the Canadian Space Agency—set a new distance record, traveling 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers) from Earth. This mission was the first crewed journey to the moon in over half a century.
Wiseman noted the persistent public enthusiasm for the Artemis program, sharing an anecdote about a woman who thanked him for providing a sense of "joy and hope in the universe." The crew expressed excitement for the upcoming Artemis III mission, slated for next year. This mission will involve three NASA astronauts and one Italian astronaut, who will practice docking with lunar landers developed by SpaceX and Blue Origin while in Earth orbit.
Following Artemis III, the Artemis IV mission is expected as early as 2028, aiming for a lunar landing by two astronauts not yet identified. Regarding the Artemis III crew composition, which will be entirely male, Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch stated that she is not concerned. Koch, who became the first woman to fly to the moon, emphasized that overriding NASA's crew selection decisions for cosmetic reasons would be more problematic than the current crew announcement.
"I am so glad and so proud that that's not the situation we have," Koch told reporters.
Alongside Wiseman and Koch, pilot Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen of Canada were part of the Artemis II crew. Hansen recently announced his departure from the Canadian Space Agency in September but will continue as a reservist in the Royal Canadian Air Force and support the Artemis program.