The crew of Artemis II shared their experiences of the thrilling reentry and successful splashdown during an interview with David Muir on ABC’s “World News Tonight.” This conversation took place nearly a week after their momentous 10-day mission to the moon and back.
Christina Koch, a mission specialist on the flight, revealed to Muir that the reentry process is significantly more intense than the launch itself. “Reentry is at least ten times more exhilarating than any rocket launch,” she stated during the Thursday interview, alongside her three fellow crew members from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, which also houses Mission Control.
As the Orion spacecraft descended, the friction and compression from the Earth’s atmosphere formed a plasma bubble around it, leading to a six-minute communication blackout and exposing the capsule to temperatures reaching 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
She also noted a distinct “rumbling” sensation during their atmospheric entry that could not have been simulated during their training on Earth.
Wiseman praised pilot Victor Glover for his steady demeanor throughout the reentry process. “I want to emphasize, this man is exceptional,” he remarked. “We experienced over four Gs for about thirteen minutes, yet he maintained a consistent awareness of our altitude and speed, never faltering. It was the most remarkable operational encounter I have witnessed.”
Glover acknowledged the intensity of the heat, both literally and figuratively, and stressed the importance of maintaining their operational cadence. “During the blackout, we not only lost communication but also the ability for Mission Control to command the vehicle,” he explained. “Thus, maintaining that rhythm was crucial; we needed to know when things were supposed to happen, and if they didn’t occur automatically, we had to intervene to ensure the drogue and main parachutes deployed.”
He described the moment of splashdown as “spiritual,” recalling, “I think I simply said, ‘Welcome back to Earth.’ It was such a fulfilling moment.”
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, another mission specialist, expressed his appreciation for the Orion capsule after the successful mission. “I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for that spacecraft; it endured a lot and safeguarded four lives,” he remarked.
The crew also reminisced about a poignant moment during their journey, shared through NASA’s livestream, when Hansen proposed naming a lunar crater in honor of Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll. “To be able to do something like that with this crew, honoring such an incredible woman and the mother of my two daughters, is the pinnacle of my life,” Wiseman conveyed to Muir.
