The four astronauts who took part in the Artemis 2 mission – (commander), (pilot), (specialist) and (specialist)– spoke publicly for the first time, this Saturday (11.Apr.2026), after the 10-day trip around the Moon.

Here are the speeches from each of the astronauts at an event held in Houston (USA).

Reid Wiseman – “I don’t have the slightest idea what to say. That was 24 hours ago. The Earth was that size out the window and we were at Mach 39. And here we are back home.

Each of us will just say a few words, but I got the microphone first, so I’ll start: Victor, Christina and Jeremy. We are linked forever. And no one down here will ever know what the four of us just went through. And it was the most special thing that ever happened in my life.

(…) Nobody knows what the families went through, man. This wasn’t easy. Being more than 200,000 miles away from home.

Before launch, it seems like it’s the biggest dream on Earth. And when you’re out there, you just want to get back to your families and your friends. It’s something special to be a human. And it’s something special to be on planet Earth. Thanks”.

Victor Glover – “When this started on April 3, I wanted to thank God in public. And I want to thank God again because, even greater than my challenge of trying to describe what we went through, the gratitude of seeing what we saw, doing what we did and being with who I was with, is too big to fit into one body.

And I want to thank our families for everything he (Reid) just said. So, great words, great words, great words. I love you, but not just those five beautiful cocoa-skinned ladies over there. (I love) tall of you. And I want to thank our leadership. And it has changed since we were here in April 2023, but the qualities have not changed. And we are lucky to be at this agency now, together.

And then, I’ll sit down. Thanks also to our air operations for this installation and for our ride home from San Diego. And I love you. Thanks.”

Cristina Koch – “I couldn’t sleep this morning, so I wrote some words in my mind and I’ll try to share them with you today.

10 days ago, this journey began with our mission manager knocking on my door in the crew quarters and whispering, “Cristina, let’s have lunch. Get up.” And it ended last night when my nurse on the ship put me to bed and said, “Wow, can I have a hug?” So, a lot has happened since then, or between those two moments, but the beginning and the end were human moments here on Earth.

Several years ago, I was giving a speech and doing my usual talk about crew, teammates, and teamwork, and someone asked the question, “What does a crew do? What’s different about a crew versus a team?” And I thought: “I know this one”. I opened my mouth with confidence to tell them everything I knew about being a crewmate. And everything that came out of my mouth was completely worthless. I said something like:

“Crew… they, you know, they’re in space, and they work together, but they eat together too. So, you know, they’re a crew. And boats have crews. You’re a crew if you’re on a boat – it helps if you have an oar, that would be good. That would make you a crew.” But over the last 10 days, I’ve gotten a slightly better answer to that question.

A crew is people or a group who are in it all the time no matter what. Who is rowing together every minute with the same purpose. Who are willing to silently sacrifice themselves for each other. Who is funny and who maintains responsibility.

A crew has the same care and the same needs. And a crew is inescapably, beautifully, devotedly bound. So when we saw Tiny Earth, people asked our crew what impressions we had. And honestly, what struck me wasn’t necessarily just the Earth. It was all darkness around her. Earth was just this lifeboat floating undisturbed in the universe.

So, I may not have learned — I know I haven’t learned — everything this journey still has to teach me. But there is one new thing I know and it is: planet Earth, you are a crew. Thanks”.

Jeremy Hansen – “I think what I would like to share today are maybe three of the human experiences for us. And you haven’t heard us talk much about the science, the things we’ve learned, and that’s because they’re there. And they are incredible. But it is the human experience that is extraordinary for us, and it seems perhaps for you too. So I think I’ll start with gratitude.

Gratitude for my family, gratitude for NASA and its leadership, gratitude for the Canadian Space Agency, gratitude for Canadians. And I have the power to return with Reid, Christina and Victor to Canada.

Gratitude for the teams’ bravery and courage in saying “no go” (do not proceed) when we were “no go”, and “go” (proceed) when we were “go”. That took a lot. And I don’t think people will ever fully understand how well supported and trained we were. It’s almost unbelievable.

And as my daughter would say: “I’m going to try to stay focused here.” The next one is joy. We have a term in our crew that we coined a long time ago: the gravy train. And you saw, I think you saw, it seems like you saw a lot of joy up there. There was a lot of joy. We’re not always on the gravy train on this crew. There are many times when we are not on the gravy train, but we are committed to getting back on the gravy train as soon as we can.

And that’s a useful life skill for any team trying to accomplish something. And the last one… I need your help with this. Come here, guys.

The last one is love. What you saw was a group of people who loved contributing, having a meaningful contribution, and deriving joy from it. And what we have heard is that it was something special for you to witness, and the reason I asked them to stand here with me is because I would suggest to you that when you look here, you are not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you. And if you like what you see, then look a little deeper. That’s you.”

Artemis 2

The Artemis 2 mission, the first manned flight of NASA’s lunar program since 1972, was launched on April 1, 2026, from the Kennedy Space Center, in the USA. Four astronauts – Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency) – were aboard the Orion spacecraft, on a 10-day flight around the Moon.

The objective is to test Orion systems – including life support, communication and propulsion – and manned flight procedures around the Moon, in addition to evaluating the crew’s routine and performance in microgravity conditions. Astronauts conducted experiments, systems monitoring and navigation maneuvers in tests to ensure the safety and effectiveness of future lunar missions.

The mission to the Moon on Monday afternoon (April 6, 2026), when Orion carried out a 6-hour flyby around Earth’s natural satellite. During this phase, there was a blackout of around 40 minutes in communication with the team on the ground, caused by the capsule passing through the far side of the Moon.