After completing the NASA Artemis II journey, astronauts safely splashed down in the Pacific Ocean before being swiftly airlifted by United States Navy helicopters. The dramatic recovery marked a successful end to the historic mission, showcasing precision coordination between NASA and naval forces. The moment highlighted advanced recovery operations and the safe return of humans from deep space, reinforcing confidence in future lunar missions and long-duration space exploration efforts.
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#ArtemisII #NASA #SpaceMission #Astronauts #Splashdown #USNavy #SpaceExploration #MoonMission #BreakingNews #Science #Aerospace #SpaceTech #FutureOfSpace #HistoricMoment #Innovation
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NewsTranscript
00:00You know, it's interesting. I've got this question a lot over the last few weeks about,
00:05you know, we did this before, 53 years ago, and, you know, that, I think, I mean, it is a
00:10reasonable thing to contemplate, like, you know, what's gone on since then. And what I'd tell you
00:14is, you know, when we did Apollo, which, again, the more we learn about what they did, the more
00:20magical it seems what they were able to accomplish, given the technology and the learnings that they
00:25had. But when we did Apollo, the architects of Apollo, you know, Gilbert, Seaman, von Braun,
00:31Mueller, they, what they really, really wanted to do, you know, as they were contemplating what it
00:37meant to expand our range of action to the lunar surface, what they wanted to do was learn how to
00:41live and work in space for a long time. They wanted to do that first before they were confident they
00:45could expand their range of action to the moon. Now, of course, the politics at the time and the
00:50mission at the time was different. And so they had to go straight to the moon and bring people
00:55home. And then after that, the program kind of lost its momentum. But, you know, after
01:00that, NASA kept moving along those paths, right? So we recognized during Apollo that
01:04reusability was going to be important. We spent a lot of money on those machines. I mean,
01:07you know, we spent a lot of money on these machines here, even though, but we recognized
01:12that reusability was important, which is why we built a winged space plane called space shuttle.
01:15And then we used that reusable machine to build a space station. And we learned for 25 years
01:20how to live and work in space and have been able to develop technologies that can enable
01:25exploration. So really, what I think is now, 53 years later, we're at the point where the
01:31architects of Apollo would have been pleased that we're now ready to actually go back to
01:35the moon and go back to stay because we've learned all the things we needed to learn.
01:39There's a lot of people pleased here tonight. And we really thank you for joining us, Amit.
01:44Amit Shatria, NASA's associate administrator, as we begin to hoist the crew onto the helicopters
01:50to head back to the recovery ship. Thank you very much.
01:52Thank you, Ron. Congratulations, Amit.
02:19This is Mission Control Houston with the crew members now beginning to be hoisted aboard
02:23the Navy helicopters.
02:25Let's go to Megan Cruz aboard the USS John P. Murtha who will take it from here.
02:37Hey Rob, yeah, back on the bow of the ship here we are seeing the helicopters circling Orion,
02:46the first one there, having just completed picking up the first astronaut.
02:52Kilo 2 now hovering just 40 feet above the front porch, lowering a recovery specialist
03:03out of the helicopter.
03:06That person will touch down in the front porch just there.
03:14The crew members already outfitted with a harness that will allow them to quickly attach to
03:21the hoisting device.
03:28Look at the power of those blades throwing water out at the center there, the front porch with
03:39now three astronauts and the recovery specialists.
03:46Again, crews already outfitted with a harness vest.
03:54And here we go, second astronaut now off the front porch getting hoisted into the second helicopter.
04:08That helicopter will now hover just a distance away to give room for the first helicopter to come back and
04:19pick up the third astronaut.
04:26As we wait for that helicopter to come back, make its way back around.
04:30Just want to mention that the president of the United States called our NASA administrator today while he was on
04:37the ship,
04:37just minutes after we interviewed him live on our coverage and congratulated him and NASA on this history making moment
04:48tonight.
04:53Helicopter one again hovering 40 feet over the front porch.
05:00We will soon see another recovery specialist getting lowered onto the front porch.
05:10Wow, imagine sitting on that front porch, the wind, the water.
05:15But again, the recovery team determined that a helicopter flight back to the ship here would be safer, faster,
05:24and more comfortable for our crew who just completed a 10-day mission around the moon.
05:32Third astronaut in the air getting hoisted quickly back into the first helicopter now.
05:49That first helicopter now on its way back to the ship here.
05:52We will soon see it land in just a few minutes.
05:55Again, all this action happening just 3,000 yards away from us, so a very quick flight back to the
06:00flight deck.
06:05And now the only person left on the front porch, Commander Reed Wiseman.
06:12That second helicopter now making its way back over to the front porch.
06:21Here it comes.
06:33Making its final approach here.
06:34Imagine coming and going in.
06:38Here we go.
06:41Here we go.
06:43And now we're going to go...
06:44Here we go.
06:44That's going to go...
06:53Here we go.
06:53Where are you?
06:53This is the one.
06:54You're going to go up here?
06:55That's going to be a bit too far,î.
07:04Again, let's see where we got your Mary.
07:08The last astronaut, Commander Reed Weissman, now off the front porch and almost into the
07:17second helicopter.
07:19Both now on their way back to the ship where we are, the USS John P. Murtha, just west
07:27of San Diego and the Pacific Ocean.
07:47Exciting to see our four crew members minutes away from landing on the flight deck here on
07:53the recovery ship.
07:56550 people on this ship, excited, ready, anxious, looking forward to welcoming this crew aboard.
08:19Watching them now with our own eyes.
08:24Close to the ship here, hearing them begin to hover on the flight deck, which is just
08:32across from us here on the bow.
08:41The first helicopter coming in.
09:07And wheels down.
09:09Wheels down of the first helicopter carrying two of our Artemis II crew.
09:15Pilot Victor Glover and mission specialist Christina Koch.
09:26Hilo 1 on deck reported on the recovery loop.
09:29Again, the mission audio loops that the recovery team are using here to communicate with one
09:35another.
09:36And an announcement just made on the ship.
09:39Integrity incoming.
09:43Two more helicopters on their way to the flight deck, one carrying the crew.
09:47The other, one of our imagery helicopters.
09:53Again, kudos to our imagery and aerial teams for giving us these beautiful views of history in the making.
10:10The second helicopter, making its approach of the flight deck.
10:31Plenty of people here on the bow with their cell phones out filming this moment.
10:57Some impressive flying here by the Navy as we are seconds away from wheels down.
11:07And there you go.
11:09We now have all four Artemis II crew members on the USS John P. Murtha.
11:22I'm sure they're happy to be out of the water.
11:28And on this recovery ship with, again, 550 people on board, ready to welcome them home.
11:39But first, as we've been saying throughout the broadcast, just making sure the crew feel good.
11:47We reported that they were feeling good when they were in Orion, but those were just initial,
11:52so quick verbal assessments of how they're feeling.
12:00Their destination tonight, the medical bay here on the ship, right after we power down the helicopters here.
12:21The team on the flight deck working quickly, but methodically.
12:39We're waiting for just one more helicopter to touch down.
13:00Very limited personnel here on the flight deck, as that third helicopter touches down.
13:22The ship is at flight quarters.
13:24Stand clear of weather decks, aqua frame 095.
13:27We're no cover south side through north coast over the side.
13:30Hold all trash and garbage on station.
13:33Flight quarters.
13:35Well, just a few folks on the flight deck itself, there are plenty more on some upper decks.
13:40I see in some of our views a very packed crowd overhead.
13:49Announcements being made over the ship's loudspeaker system, reminding folks to stay clear
13:54of operational areas like the flight deck so that teams can work quickly
14:02to get the crew off of the helicopters and into the medical bay.
14:21Splash down today.
14:22Splash down today, 5.06 PM Pacific time.
14:27We are within two hours of that splash down time.
14:32And already we have all four crew members on the flight deck of the USS John P. Murtha.
14:46Again, crew waiting before getting out for the helicopters to completely shut down.
15:00Safety, of course, very important to NASA and the U.S. military.
15:08So we'll wait just a couple of minutes here before we start seeing crew members walk off the helicopters
15:16one by one.
16:56All right.
16:57And now here we see pilot Victor Glover.
17:03And mission specialist Christina Cook sitting on the edge of one of the helicopters looking
17:10in great spirits.
17:13That familiar smile and laugh from Victor, I can see it from here.
17:16Christina, I'm sure, feeling the same way, just blocked a little bit by our camera here,
17:19but we'll see her here shortly.
17:24A photographer taking their pictures, Victor saluting folks on the flight deck.
17:31They look like they're in great spirits.
17:35Happy to be home, I'm sure.
17:43If you're sitting at home, I hope you too are wondering what would you want to ask them
17:48if you got a chance to talk to them because that is what I'm thinking about.
17:53Getting the opportunity to talk to or ask questions of these four astronauts who just made history
18:00as the first crew to return to the moon since 1972.
18:19Oh, there we see Christina there also smiling, finally peering out waving at the cameras.
18:25Hello to you too, Christina, yes.
18:29Welcome back.
18:30Welcome, welcome home.
18:35A loudspeaker announcement on the ship saying, welcome home integrity.
18:47Victor in great spirits.
18:49I can't see who he's talking to, but I kind of think that he might be talking to his other
18:52two crew members.
18:55Shouting from across the flight deck, congratulations to one another.
19:10And so now we see some Navy personnel walking up to the helicopter.
19:18This is again the first helicopter carrying pilot Victor Glover
19:22and mission specialist Christina Cooke.
19:25Both have taken off their helmets now.
19:42Some pictures, video to catalog this historic moment, a beautiful sunset just behind them here
19:53in the Pacific Ocean, golden hour.
19:57These pictures will be beautiful.
20:05Now we see NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman.
20:09He is on the flight deck as well as flight surgeon Rick Schuring walking
20:14over to Victor and Christina first.
20:16We saw the Administrator walk over to the other helicopter, which is carrying Commander Reed Weissman
20:22and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.
20:27We heard from Rick earlier in the broadcast.
20:29Again, he said he's going to be out there on the flight deck to do another initial assessment
20:36of the crew, ask them how they're feeling, anything bothering them.
20:43But again, from what I'm seeing, they look like they're in great spirits
20:47and feeling pretty good for folks who just traveled 695,000 miles from Florida to the moon
20:55and now here to the Pacific Ocean.
21:20We're now seeing NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman walking across the flight deck.
21:24He had been talking to Reed and Jeremy, now approaching Victor and Christina.
21:29A hug from Victor?
21:31A hug from Christina?
21:34What a moment that we're getting to experience together.
21:43I'm sure congratulatory words.
21:45You know, we got to speak to the Administrator live on this broadcast as well
21:49and he said the kid in him right now, giddy, absolutely giddy at what we were able to accomplish today.
22:02Returning them home safely and in good spirits after a 10-day mission around the moon.
22:09And here we go, we're seeing Jeremy walking, waving across the flight deck, now on his way to the medical
22:19bay.
22:25It's a short walk, less than a minute.
22:29Again, that's why the recovery team decided to use helicopters to get them on the flight deck.
22:42And now on the flight deck, we see the Chief of the Astronaut Office, Scott Tingle.
22:52Rick Schering, switching places.
22:54He's going over to the other helicopter.
22:55Big hugs, big hugs from Victor, Christina, to Scott.
23:06Again, a gorgeous sunset setting the stage for this recovery tonight.
23:22All right, and now here we are, Christina, making her way, looking thankful, grateful, happy to be home.
23:40You can see she's looking up, again, lots of people, just a few levels up off the flight deck, welcoming
23:49her home.
23:55Scott holding the door like a gentleman, but back on his way to the other crew still on the flight
24:02deck.
24:14So still on the flight deck, Victor Glover and Reed Weissman.
24:24It looks like Victor will be the next one, headed to Medical Bay.
24:29More hugs, more hugs.
24:31He's a hugger.
24:36Victor looking good as he walks across the flight deck.
24:43NASA Administrator applauding.
24:48Victor applauding for all the folks on the ship with him who played a role in their safe return today.
25:20And finally, just one Artemis II crew member left on the flight deck, Commander Reed Weissman.
25:36Applause from the group there on the flight deck, I'm sure, as well as on the level just above them,
25:46packed with people.
25:51Reed looking good as he takes his steps towards the Medical Bay.
26:08See our four Artemis II crew members back on the ship.
26:12Again, now they will head into Medical Bay where they will be assessed by flight surgeons from both NASA as
26:22well as the Canadian Space Agency.
26:25A more in-depth assessment.
26:31When they get to Medical Bay, they will each have their own nurse.
26:35They will be helped out of their suits.
26:40And then again, we'll check to see that they're feeling good.
26:45Make sure it's not just adrenaline, but that they are feeling good from their long journey back from the moon.
26:53Beautiful shot of that sunset illuminating our flight deck.
27:17All right, and now with our astronauts safely on board, I want to welcome on Artemis Recovery Director, Lily Villarreal.
27:23Lily, I don't know how you must be feeling right now, ecstatic, relieved?
27:28So ecstatic, relieved.
27:30Of course, we still have to bring the capsule into the well deck of the ship, but this is a
27:34major milestone to have the crew here on the ship and in Med Bay.
27:40You know, our team has been preparing and working really hard, and I'm just so proud of them all.
27:46Everything went very well, just as planned.
27:49And our teammates in Houston, the flight control team was just amazing.
27:54We were able to have great conversations and communications about everything.
28:01And I don't know what else to say.
28:03I'm just so excited.
28:05It's such a wonderful feeling to get to this point.
28:10Again, we still have to get the capsule, but this is huge for all of us in landing recovery.
28:16And I couldn't do this without my team and, of course, the full support of the U.S. military.
28:22There's going to be lots of, you know, high fives when we get the capsule back in.
28:26And I'm so happy that the crew is doing well.
28:29Ryan's doing well.
28:31And, you know, thank you for, you know, for everybody watching.
28:35Yeah.
28:36Yeah, it was great to watch the crew come back to the ship with you.
28:40How were you feeling when you were seeing them looking so happy, so happy to be home and feeling really
28:45good?
28:46You know, the funny thing is, is that we had video of them from inside the Orion vehicle.
28:53They were like that from the beginning.
28:54When we opened the hatch, they were already out of their seats, having a good time, waiting for us to
29:01open the hatch.
29:01And they opened the hatch, and, of course, we did the first medical assessment.
29:06Everybody was doing very well.
29:07And they were just having such a great time with the medical team that was inside the capsule.
29:13I think they were all taking selfies with, you know, the phones that they have, probably talking about what they
29:19saw.
29:20And it was just smiles all around.
29:23They were having such a great time.
29:24And then we put them on the front porch when we were ready to put them on the front porch.
29:28And, again, you could see they were just so ecstatic to be home and talking to everybody.
29:33So we were very happy to see all of that in the control room of the ALFOC.
29:37How remarkable is that?
29:39Again, if we think about their journey, the 695,000-mile journey around the moon and back,
29:44coming back at 30 times faster than the speed of sound.
29:49I mean, how remarkable is it that they are in such good spirit?
29:52I mean, this is an amazing crew.
29:54I think you guys have seen it for the past 10 days.
29:57They're wonderful people.
29:59And we're so happy that they brought us along on that ride.
30:02And I can't wait to see all the additional videos and pictures that they have that, you know,
30:08we'll get a hold of now that they're back on the ground.
30:11And I can't wait to hear how, you know, a little more than what we saw on the press briefings
30:17from the crew about what they saw.
30:19It's just fantastic.
30:21You know, some of my favorite people during the 10 days was the science team and how excited they were.
30:27And so this is exactly how we feel in the land recovery team when the science team went, oh, my
30:34goodness,
30:35when they heard all the discussions about the moon.
30:38This is exactly how we feel now in the land recovery team.
30:41We're so ecstatic.
30:42Again, we have to recover the capsule.
30:44I want to make sure we don't forget about Orion.
30:48Lily's all about business.
30:49She's thinking about what's next.
30:50But, yeah, speaking of these 10 days, I mean, we have been along for the journey with them,
30:56live with them 24-7 for 10 days and just really seeing the engagement that we've gotten from around the
31:01world.
31:01What do you hope people take away from this mission?
31:04I think that's fantastic.
31:06So, you know, my story was that I went to the Kennedy Space Center.
31:10I'm actually, I was born in Colombia.
31:12I was 10 years old when we moved to the United States.
31:15But when I was seven, my family took me to the visitor center.
31:18And that's when I learned about Apollo.
31:20And we went to the moon and I learned about astronauts.
31:25And that story was what really fueled me to want to do STEM and want to be an astronaut.
31:31And I think that this Artemis program is going to do exactly what, you know, what girls, you know,
31:40my age back then is seven young people right now, girls and even, like, young men, obviously.
31:47But we want to empower people to know that you can do this, right, if you want to come and
31:53work for NASA.
31:54If I did it, they can do it.
31:57And Artemis program is just going to inspire everybody.
32:00And I'm so happy about that.
32:02Like Apollo inspired me.
32:04Thank you so much, Lily.
32:05Really appreciate you being here.
32:06As you said, still a lot of work to do.
32:08Five to six more hours to recover Orion that's still out in the water.
32:11So I'll let you get back to it.
32:14But you had beautiful words to say again.
32:16We hope that this inspires people.
32:17We hope that you come and join us at NASA and accomplish great things with us in the future.
32:22Back to you, Rob.
32:26Thank you, Megan.
32:28And safe sailing out there in the Pacific.
32:30Here in Mission Control, it is now all quiet.
32:33The team of flight controllers and all their support personnel have left the room to enjoy the aftermath
32:43of a textbook touchdown by integrity that splashed down in the Pacific right on target
32:50to complete this historic flyby of the moon, the Artemis II mission.
32:54With that, we'll wrap up our coverage for the night and point you to a post-splashdown news conference.
33:04Subscribe to One India and never miss an update.
33:08Download the One India app now.
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