Four astronauts travelling back from the far side of the moon on NASA's Artemis II mission spoke with reporters in their first press conference from space on Wednesday (April 8).

The astronauts shared some of the highlights from their journey and their time living aboard the Orion capsule.

"We have loved living in Orion," NASA astronaut Christina Koch told the media, adding that she will miss living so close to her crew members and having a common purpose.

The Artemis II crew, flying in their Orion capsule since launching from Florida last week, reached the moon earlier this week while cruising along a path that took them past the shadowed, lunar far side and then on to become the farthest-flying humans in history.

NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen are the first wave of astronauts in a multibillion-dollar series of missions under the Artemis program that aims to return humans to the moon's surface by 2028 before China, and establish a long-term U.S. presence over the next decade, building a moon base for potential future missions to Mars.

Back on Earth, dozens of lunar scientists have been packed in rooms adjacent to NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston this week, scribbling down notes and debating a steady stream of both real-time and recorded audio from the Artemis II astronaut crew in their Orion spacecraft.

The crew is due to return to Earth on Friday around 8 p.m. ET (0000 GMT Saturday), splashing down off the coast of San Diego, California to cap their nearly 10-day mission. They will reach peak speeds of up to 23,839 mph (38,365 kph) as they plunge into Earth's atmosphere.

The four astronauts on Monday (April 6) had reached a record-breaking distance from Earth of roughly 252,000 miles, surpassing by some 4,000 miles the previous record held by the Apollo 13 crew for 56 years.

The astronauts broke that record amid a six-hour lunar flyby in which they surveyed the lunar surface from roughly 4,000 miles above.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS ABOARD THE ORION SPACECRAFT SPEAKING TO MEDIA / SOUNDBITES FROM ASTRONAUTS

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: IN SPACE (APRIL 8, 2026)(NASA – For editorial use only)

1. (SOUNDBITE) (English) NASA ASTRONAUT, CHRISTINA KOCH, SAYING:

“Wow, we have loved living in Orion and in fact, we've all said that sometimes you can forget where you really are because we're in this small, this small space that just gives us everything we need. But the answer to your question is yes, it is bigger in microgravity. And yes, we are bumping into each other 100% of the time. A phrase that you often hear in the cabin is 'don't move your foot. I'm just going to reach for something right under it' or, you know, 'can I get there? And my goal is to get over there.' And we're constantly moving around, whether it's to complete a task, to just eat, you know, to to look out the window, to take a picture. Everything we do in here is a four-person activity, but it's also really fun.”

2. WHITE FLASH

3. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NASA ASTRONAUT, CHRISTINA KOCH, SAYING:

“I will miss this camaraderie. I will miss being this close with this many people and having a common purpose, a common mission, getting to work on it hard at heart every day across hundreds of thousands of miles with the team on the ground. This sense of teamwork is something that you don't usually get, like as an adult. I mean, we are close like brothers and sisters and that is a privilege we will never have again. I have to say, I don't think there's anything I would say I won't miss or that I'm just ready to be over because this whole thing is a package we can't explore deeper unless we are doing a few things that are inconvenient, unless we're making a few sacrifices, unless we're taking a few risks. And those things are all worth it.”

4. WHITE FLASH

5. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NASA ASTRONAUT, VICTOR GLOVER, SAYING:

“We have to get back. There's so much data that you've seen already, but all the good stuff is coming back with us. There's so many more pictures, so many more stories. And gosh, I haven't even begun to process what we've been through and we've still got two more days. And riding a fireball through the atmosphere is what is profound as well. So I have to answer that question later. I'm not sure, but I can tell you it's a lot and lifelong memories I'm going to be thinking about and talking about all of these things for the rest of my life for sure.”

6. WHITE FLASH

7. (SOUNDBITE)(English) CANADIAN ASTRONAUT, JEREMY HANSEN, SAYING:

“Well, when I think about the Artemis program in general, you are, I mean, we've already seen some investments in pushing robotic technology forward for deep space that we're going to see put to good use in one way or another. And this is the beauty of this program that brings in international collaboration, sets big goals, and doesn't just talk about them, but goes after them and gets it done. We're going to need the advances in robotics. It's really hard out here. It's we're a long way from home. We've been learning the entire journey. We've been watching Mission Control learn. You do a lot of testing on the ground, but your final test is when you get this hardware to space and it's a doozy.”

8. WHITE FLASH

9. (SOUNDBITE)(English) NASA ASTRONAUT, CHRISTINA KOCH, SAYING:

“And often times it's actually easier in human spaceflight, especially on a first mission to accept some of the things that aren't working quite right or the operational work arounds. And we have actually been diligent to try to fix everything. And we're always thinking from the perspective as what is the next crew going to think about this? How will this help them to succeed? So, manual piloting the vehicle, making sure that the procedures and the processes for making everything work are all as they should be. Then there's the human side of it. How are our provisions? How are our food? How is the human system working in here? I'm taking the time to do all of the developmental flight test objectives that have been scheduled. So, both in the vehicle and all in the last three years, we've really just worked to make sure that they are set up for success. And that's all of the teams, not just the crew, but the flight control teams, the mission engineering rooms, the launch teams, everyone. We've just hopefully we've done our best to bring folks together and to make sure that we can be the best they can be.”