Summary
Overview
The Artemis II astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Cook, and Jeremy Hansen—answer questions from children about their historic 10-day mission to orbit the moon. The crew discusses their experience traveling farther from Earth than any humans before, the profound perspective gained from seeing Earth from space, the technical challenges they faced, and the deeply personal moments that bonded them as a team.
What It Takes to Become an Astronaut
The crew opens by addressing children who dream of becoming astronauts, offering advice on the qualities needed for space exploration. Each astronaut emphasizes different virtues—from curiosity about nature to persistence through challenges, being a good teammate, and maintaining humility. Their responses reveal that becoming an astronaut requires both personal character development and a commitment to supporting others.
- Curiosity and wonder of nature are essential—observing trees, birds, water, and natural phenomena
- Persistence is critical because challenges will arise between you and your goals
- Being a good teammate is fundamental—your teammates determine if you're successful, not yourself
- Humility, hard work, and supporting people around you complete the astronaut mindset
" The one thing that we can all guarantee kids today, there are going to be challenges between you and your goal, and there are going to be times where you do not believe you're going to make it. And you're just going to have to have persistence to keep trying. "
" The number one thing I would say to a young person is being a good teammate. And the reason I would start with that one is because at the end of the day, you don't get to say if you're a good teammate, it's your teammates who say that. "
Journey to the Far Side of the Moon
The crew describes the surreal experience of traveling to the far side of the moon, where human eyes had never before seen the illuminated surface. They detail seeing craters like Oriental Basin and Vavilov, with Ohm's ejector rays streaking across the lunar surface. While they acknowledged the momentous nature of being completely alone on the far side, losing contact with Earth, they quickly returned to their scientific work, documenting everything the human eye could observe.
- The far side of the moon is often illuminated by the sun—when Earth has a new moon, the far side is fully lit
- Human eyes had never before seen the specific features they observed, including Oriental Basin and various craters
- The crew took a solemn moment to commemorate being the four people alone on the far side, then returned to intensive scientific work
- Their brains had not evolved to process what they were seeing—the experience was overwhelming and hard to describe
" Human eyes, even though we went to the moon in the 1960s and 70s in the magnificent Apollo program, human eyes had never looked at what we were looking down on. "
" Our brains have not evolved to see what we're seeing. We were actually transitioning from the far side to coming back toward the near side when the sun went behind the moon. It got really bright and then really dark and looking out at this really large—it was all of the things. "
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