The Artemis II crew talks to ABC News from space: their journey so far and what lies ahead
The Artemis 2 mission launched on Wednesday, taking four astronauts on a historic 10-day mission around the moon and giving them views of a lifetime along the way.
One day after liftoff, ABC News’ Gio Benitez spoke with Reed astronauts Weisman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen from their Orion spacecraft talk about the journey so far and what they expect for the days ahead.
“I don’t know what we were all expecting to see… but you can see the entire globe, from pole to pole,” Commander Weissman said of the crew’s view of Earth from space on Thursday.
CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Reed Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover speak with ABC News from the Orion spacecraft as it heads to the moon on April 2, 2026.
NASA
He added: “You can see Africa and Europe, and if you look closely, you can see the northern lights. It was the most exciting moment, and it stopped us all in our tracks.”
This mission marks the first time humans have flown beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission that landed on the moon in 1972.
The crew embarks on a 685,000-mile journey around the Moon, also known as a flyby.
The Orion spacecraft will begin its journey away from Earth toward the Moon after completing its burn through the Moon, on April 2, 2026.
NASA
Wednesday’s launch was seen around the world, as the crew successfully lifted off at 6:35 pm ET from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Although they were all expecting it, when the rocket boosters actually lit up and left the launch pad, “there was a moment of disbelief,” said Hansen, a mission specialist and part of the Canadian Space Agency.
NASA’s Artemis II flyby mission, consisting of a Space Launch System rocket with an Orion crew capsule, will lift off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on April 1, 2026.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“The fact that we launched – it completely surprises you, even though you expect it, at least for me anyway, and it put a big smile on my face,” he said.
Koch, a mission specialist who holds the record for the longest spaceflight by a woman at 328 days, addressed the issue of toilets on board the spacecraft, which was reported after launch.
In this Sept. 20, 2023, file photo, NASA Artemis II astronauts (left to right) Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen stand in the white chamber on the crew access arm of the mobile launch pad on Launch Pad 39B as part of the Integrated Ground Systems Test at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Frank Michaud/NASA
“I’m proud to call myself a space plumber,” Koch said. “I would say it’s probably the most important piece of equipment on board.”
Crew members said at the time that the Orion capsule’s toilet, called the Global Waste Management System, had a flashing light during testing, but the problem has since been resolved.
“So we were all breathing a sigh of relief when things turned out to be OK,” Koch said.
CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen and NASA astronauts Reed Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover speak with ABC News from the Orion spacecraft as it heads to the moon on April 2, 2026.
NASA
From high Earth orbit, the Earth’s divisions are out of sight, said Glover, the mission pilot who will make history as the first person of color to go to the moon.
“Trust us, you look amazing, you’re beautiful,” he said of the floor. “You too seem like one thing. Homo sapiens is all of us, no matter where you come from or what you look like. We are all one people.”
“We call the amazing things that humans do ‘big breakthroughs’ for a reason, because it brought us together and showed us what we can do when we not only put our differences aside, but when we bring our differences together and use all our strengths to accomplish something great,” Glover said.
The Orion spacecraft will begin its journey away from Earth toward the Moon after completing its burn through the Moon, on April 2, 2026.
NASA
Before speaking with ABC News on Thursday, the Artemis II crew successfully completed a critical mission milestone, a burn across the moon that propelled the Orion spacecraft out of Earth’s orbit on a path toward the moon.
During a press conference after the maneuver, Lori Glaze, NASA’s acting associate administrator, said the critical injection burn across the moon was “flawless.”
“From this point on, the laws of orbital mechanics will carry our crew to the Moon, around the far side and then back to Earth,” Glaze said.
