SouthernWorldwide.com – Artemis astronaut Jeremy Hansen described the crew’s recent return to Earth as “the best roller coaster ride you’ve ever been on.”
“For the landing, it’s like all the sights, all the feels,” Hansen said Friday at a “CBS Mornings” town hall, titled “Artemis II: A Celebration of Heroes.”
“The first thing you see is like plasma, the colors starting to show up. This fireball building outside the windows,” he said. “It was red, and it was coming down. And then it was like blue and green. It was like somebody was welding, like flashing.”
Speaking to an audience of students, he described getting “thrashed around” and being pushed to the seat with G-forces.
“It’s just all really exhilarating,” he said, adding that he and mission specialist Christina Koch fist-bumped each other during the end of their journey.
“It was phenomenal. I was completely overcome with just elation. I was overjoyed,” Koch said, describing her feelings at splashdown.
The Artemis II crew, including Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, returned from their groundbreaking journey around the moon on April 10. Their Orion capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, marking an epic conclusion to their historic mission.
The crew participated in a special live town hall with “CBS Mornings” to answer questions from students. They also had the opportunity to meet 5-year-old Jack from Atlanta, who gained viral fame for his enthusiasm during the launch. Jack was presented with a special gift.
Director Ron Howard, known for “Apollo 13,” also joined the town hall. One of the astronauts shared how the film had influenced their preparation for space travel.
“Bill Nye, The Science Guy,” who serves as chief ambassador for The Planetary Society, demonstrated science experiments designed to bring the Artemis II mission to life.
Crew Shares Post-Landing Snack
Commander Reid Wiseman recounted a heartwarming moment after splashdown while the crew awaited rescue forces. Christina Koch surprised the crew by producing peanut M&Ms from her spacesuit pocket.
“When we landed, we splashed down into the Pacific Ocean, waiting for the rescue forces to come open the hatch, and Christina, out of her spacesuit pocket, goes, ‘I got some peanut M&Ms, anybody want some?'” Wiseman shared. “And so we’re leaning against the side of the spacecraft, just come back from the moon, eating peanut M&Ms; we were happy.”
The Appeal of Gravity
An 18-year-old student named Levi posed a question to the astronauts: “What is your favorite thing about gravity that you missed while you were up there?”
Mission specialist Hansen admitted he couldn’t think of anything he missed about gravity. “Really, nothing. I just had the most amazing time in microgravity,” he stated.
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“If you get the chance to experience microgravity, you have to do it. It’s so much fun,” Hansen added, though he acknowledged that everyday tasks like chores or using the restroom become more challenging without gravity.
“All that stuff’s a little harder in microgravity, but it is just so worth it,” he concluded.
Christina Koch described the readjustment to gravity after their nearly two-week absence from Earth. Her body needed time to reorient itself without the constant presence of gravity.
“Your body isn’t quite used to orienting the way it usually does, because it got used to orienting without gravity,” she explained. “It takes us a little while to get used to walking again, and get our balance, but it wasn’t too bad this time. We were only away for nine days.”
During their mission, which covered nearly 700,000 miles, the astronauts achieved a historic distance from Earth, surpassing all previous human spaceflights. They were also the first humans to witness certain parts of the moon’s far side with their own eyes.
The crew observed a solar eclipse in deep space as the moon passed between the Orion spacecraft and the sun. This celestial event created a striking, ethereal glow around the lunar horizon.
Stunning images captured these extraordinary experiences, showcasing the beauty and wonder of their journey.
Toughest Decisions Amidst Mission Challenges
A 13-year-old named Piya inquired about the most difficult decision the crew had to make during the mission. The astronauts revealed it involved a decision *not* to act.
Wiseman recounted a tense moment when the crew was awakened by an alarm indicating a potential fuel leak from the spacecraft. This “run box warning” signaled a critical issue during the maiden voyage of the Orion spaceship.
“This is the first time humans have flown this spaceship. We were testing out everything. And one of the things that we didn’t know we were testing out was our caution and warning system,” Wiseman recalled. “In the middle of the night, we had a warning come on that was a very — it was a very dramatic and important warning, which kind of gave us indications that fuel was leaking out of our spacecraft.”
“We have procedures that we must execute and we must execute them right now. So imagine all four of us are asleep. We’re floating in our sleeping bags. And we get this alarm. I wake up, and I’m looking at the display, and I’m like, ‘I think that’s a run box warning.’ And all of a sudden that got everyone’s attention immediately.”
Wiseman explained that the crew immediately followed their training protocols. Jeremy Hansen, who was asleep nearby, quickly moved to assist with the control system.
“Jeremy was asleep in front of the control system. And he woke up, came underneath the controls to my left, and he’s like, ‘We need to be executing emergency response right now.’ He started to configure the propellant system for shutting down the fuel system so we could preserve the fuel that we had in the spacecraft.”
He continued, “As we were watching this alarm was coming and going, coming and going, which is unusual. Normally it would stay lit the whole time. We talked through this very rapidly and decided we would hold and not execute these procedures, because if we did it would shut down our entire fuel system.”
“We didn’t do it!” he exclaimed, highlighting the crucial decision to trust their assessment and avoid unnecessary action.
The Power of Teamwork
17-year-old Lizzy asked about the role of teamwork in the success of a mission like Artemis II.
Christina Koch emphasized that the true heroes of the mission were not just the astronauts, but also their extensive support team on the ground, including mission control and engineers who had worked for years to make the mission possible.
“Well, I would say that teamwork is the epitome of what we do. Not only in human spaceflight but probably every endeavor you take on,” Koch stated. “Teamwork is 100% everything. We learned when we saw the most amazing things in the universe, they humbled us. They made us realize that we are nothing without each other.”
Young Aspiring Astronaut Receives Special Gift
Jack, the 5-year-old aspiring astronaut from Atlanta who went viral for his enthusiasm, attended the town hall. He shared that watching the Artemis launch in person in Florida was an enjoyable experience.
He was presented with a spacesuit, and Koch expressed her gratitude for his presence at the launch. She noted that the spacesuit was similar to those worn by the astronauts on Orion.
“It says ‘NASA!'” Jack proudly exclaimed.
Ron Howard’s Curiosity About Spaceflight Experiences
“Apollo 13” director Ron Howard expressed his curiosity about how the astronauts’ moon mission compared to their extended stays aboard the International Space Station.
Christina Koch, who previously spent a record-breaking 11 months in orbit in 2019-20, explained that while the space station missions have a long history, the Artemis team had to innovate and adapt as they progressed.
“We got to work hand-in-hand with the engineers. We weren’t just getting trained, we were actually a part of the team. And that continued right through the whole thing,” she said.
Wiseman commented that the Artemis II mission was more intense than his experiences on the International Space Station.
Hansen also shared the profound impact of the film “Apollo 13” on his journey. He described it as having “guided” him “so many times.” He even rewatched the movie before his astronaut selection interviews to immerse himself in the culture of perseverance and determination.
“It’s not that we never fail, it’s that we don’t stop there,” he explained. “We fail over and over again, but we don’t stop when we fail. And as a team, that’s what brings us together is like, ‘hey, we will get through this together. We will lean in and get this done.'”
The town hall airs at 7:30a ET/PT Friday on “CBS Mornings” on CBS and Paramount+. It will also be available on demand later Friday on CBSNews.com, the CBS News YouTube channel, and Paramount+.
