Christina Koch fights back tears as Artemis II crew given hero’s welcome

Artemis II astronaut Christina Koch fought back tears reflecting on her journey to the moon after she returned home to Earth. The crew, which also included US astronauts Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover alongside Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday (10 April) after nearly 10 days in space, marking the first voyage by humans to the vicinity of the moon in more than half a century. As the crew was given a hero's welcome by NASA staff and other dignitaries at Ellington Field, near the Johnson Space Center, Koch said as she reflected on her journey: "Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe. So, I may have not learned – I know I haven't learned – everything that this journey has yet to teach me. But there's one new thing I know, and that is, Planet Earth, you are a crew. Thank you."