“Unrepeatable” and “too big”: this is how the Artemis II astronauts describe their trip to the Moon

Likewise, he has recognized the difficulty of the trip: “Before the launch, it seems like the biggest dream in the world, and once there, the only thing you want is to return to your family and your friends. It is something special to be human, and it is something special to be on planet Earth.”

For his part, Victor Glover has admitted that he has not yet fully assimilated the magnitude of the mission: “I still haven’t assimilated what we just did,” before expressing his emotion: “Beyond the challenge of trying to describe what we experienced, the gratitude for having seen what we saw, for having done what we did and for having been with who I was, is something too big to fit into a single body.”

The astronaut also wanted to thank the support received: “When all this started, I wanted to thank God in public, and I want to thank God again,” in addition to highlighting the role of his loved ones: “And I wanted to thank our families for everything (…) I love you, but not just those five beautiful brown-skinned women who are there. All of you.”

LOOK: Stop scrolling: Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, asks to leave smartphones and go out into nature more

Mission specialist Christina Koch has emphasized team cohesion, ensuring that “a crew is a group that is always present, no matter what happens (…) inseparably united by a beautiful and faithful bond.”

Likewise, he has recounted the impact of observing the Earth from space: “The Earth was like a lifeboat floating peacefully in the universe,” before concluding that “on planet Earth, we are all part of a crew.”

Jeremy Hansen has spoken in similar terms, highlighting the human dimension of the mission and the connection with those who followed it from Earth: “What they saw was a group of people who enjoyed contributing (…) We are a mirror that reflects them, and if you like what you see, look a little further. This is your reflection.”

The astronauts have also highlighted the importance of the bond with their families during the trip, in which they were able to maintain brief communications at a distance, as well as the strengthening of the group’s cohesion during the ten days aboard the Orion capsule, five meters in diameter.

The mission has also left several historical milestones, including the participation of the first woman on a lunar flight, the first person of color and the first non-American astronaut on this type of expedition, as well as the debut of the Space Launch System and the Orion spacecraft on a manned flight, as highlighted by Bloomberg.

NASA is already working on the next steps of the program, with its sights set on the Artemis III mission, scheduled for 2027, which will seek to return astronauts to the lunar surface, followed by Artemis IV in 2028, within the framework of a broader plan to establish a sustained presence on the Moon.