00:01All right, three, two, one, integrity.
00:09So we wear these Acti-watches, and if you hit this button, the red light lights up,
00:13which tells you you got a good battery.
00:15And I don't know why, but for the last two years when we wear these — hey, Hopper — for
00:18the last two years when we wear these things, it just kind of brings us back into focus
00:22whenever we get a little distracted.
00:23So we did a lot of syncing when we were on this mission for no reason whatsoever.
00:27I have absolutely no idea what to say.
00:30This is — 24 hours ago, the earth was that big out the window, and we were doing Mach 39,
00:34and here we are back at Ellington at home.
00:49All right, every one of us are just going to give a couple words, but I get the mic first,
00:53so I'm going to start.
00:56Victor, Christina, and Jeremy, we are bonded forever.
01:01And no one down here is ever going to know what the four of us just went through, and
01:07it was the most special thing that will ever happen in my life.
01:10And our families are over here, and with the exception of Dot, Susie, and Jeannie, who are
01:16in the audience, but I don't know where they are.
01:18But Dot, I'm going to hit Mac and Donald's later today.
01:22In honor of your husband, no one knows what the families went through, man.
01:28This was not easy.
01:30Being 200,000-plus miles away from home — like, before you launch, it feels like it's
01:35the greatest dream on Earth.
01:37And when you're out there, you just want to get back to your families and your friends.
01:41It's a special thing to be a human, and it's a special thing to be on planet Earth.
02:07Wait, now I've got to make a joke.
02:10The only person who can follow that up is Victor Glover, so let's go.
02:16And now we're ready for questions.
02:20I'm going to keep it brief, because I don't — I'm afraid to start talking.
02:27I have not processed what we just did, and I'm afraid to start even trying.
02:33When this started on April 3rd, I wanted to thank God in public, and I want to thank God
02:41again, because even bigger than my challenge trying to describe what we went through, the
02:49gratitude of seeing what we saw, doing what we did, and being with who I was with, it's
02:58too big to just be in one body.
03:02And I wanted to thank our families for everything that he just said.
03:06So great words, great words, great words.
03:09I love you, but not just those five beautiful cocoa-skinned ladies right there.
03:16All of you.
03:20And I wanted to thank our leadership.
03:23And it's changed since we were here in April of 2023, but the qualities haven't.
03:30And we are fortunate to be in this agency at this time together.
03:38And so I'm going to sit down.
03:40Thank you also to our air operations for this facility and for our ride home from San Diego.
03:47And I love you.
03:59I'm sorry.
04:02I'm sorry.
04:05I'm sorry.
04:12Reed just said it was a setup for us who had to follow him.
04:15That's true.
04:17Um, I couldn't sleep this morning, so I did write some words down in my mind, and I'm
04:22going to try and share them with you today.
04:25Ten days ago, this journey started with our mission manager, Sean Duvall, knocking on
04:32my door in crew quarters and whispering, Christina, we're going for launch.
04:38Get up.
04:41And it ended last night when my nurse on the ship put me to bed and said, ma'am, can
04:49I
04:49get a hug?
04:59So, a lot has happened since then, but, um, or between those two moments, but the start
05:04and the end were human moments here on Earth.
05:07So, several years ago, I was giving a speech, and I was doing my usual talk about crew and
05:13crewmates and teamwork, and someone asked the question, what makes a crew?
05:18What is different about a crew than a team?
05:20And I was like, I got this.
05:22Opened my mouth confidently to tell them everything I knew about being a crewmate, and everything
05:27that came out of my mouth was completely without value.
05:31I was like, yeah, crews, they're, you know, they're in space, and, uh, they work together,
05:39but they eat together, too.
05:40So, you know, they're a crew, and, uh, boats have crews, you know, your crew, if you're
05:46on a boat, helps if you have a paddle, that's, that'll be good, that'll make you a crew.
05:51But the last 10 days, I've gotten a little bit of a better answer on that question.
05:59A crew is people or, you know, a group that is in it all the time, no matter what, that
06:09is stroking together every minute with the same purpose, that is willing to sacrifice
06:16silently for each other, that gives grace, that holds accountable.
06:24A crew has the same cares and the same needs, and a crew is inescapably, beautifully, dutifully
06:37linked.
06:40So, when we saw Tiny Earth, people asked our crew what impressions we had.
06:49And honestly, what struck me wasn't necessarily just Earth.
06:55It was all the blackness around it.
06:59Earth was just this lifeboat hanging, undisturbingly, in the universe.
07:16Uh-oh.
07:27So, I may have not learned, I know I haven't learned, everything that this journey has yet
07:34to teach me.
07:36But there's one new thing I know, and that is, planet Earth, you are a crew.
07:52You guys got to, you guys got to cut it out, man.
08:12Well, it's been a lot, this isn't helping, but this is the furthest I've been away
08:19from Reed in a long time.
08:35I think, yeah, thank you.
08:40I think what I'd like to share today is maybe three of the human experiences for us.
08:46And you haven't heard us talk a lot about the science, the things we've learned, and
08:51that's because they're there, and they're incredible.
08:54But it's the human experience that is extraordinary for us.
08:58And it sounds like maybe for you too.
09:01And so I think I'll start with gratitude, gratitude for my family, gratitude for NASA, for its
09:11leadership, gratitude for Canadian Space Agency, gratitude, gratitude pour les Canadiennes,
09:18et les Canadiennes, j'ai hâte de pouvoir revenir avec Reed, Christina, Victor, O Canada.
09:29Gratitude for the bravery and the courage for the teams to be no-go when we were no-go and
09:39go when we were go.
09:41That took a lot.
09:43And I don't think people will really ever fully comprehend how well supported and trained we
09:49were.
09:51It is almost unbelievable.
10:05All right, and as my daughter would say, I'll try and stay locked in here.
10:09Okay.
10:10The next one is joy.
10:12We have a term in our crew that we coined a long time ago, the joy train.
10:16And you saw, I think you saw, sounds like you saw a lot of joy up there.
10:20There was a lot of joy.
10:21We're not always on the joy train, this crew.
10:24There are many times we're not on the joy train.
10:27But we are committed to getting back on the joy train as soon as we can.
10:31And that is a useful life skill for any team trying to get something done.
10:37And the last one is, I need your help for this, come on up here, guys.
10:45The last one is love.
10:47What you saw was a group of people who loved contributing, having meaningful contribution,
10:55and extracting joy out of that.
10:58And what we've been hearing is that was something special for you to witness.
11:04And the reason I had them form up here with me is because I would suggest to you that when
11:10you look up here, you're not looking at us.
11:12We are a mirror reflecting you.
11:16And if you like what you see, then just look a little deeper.
11:19This is you.
11:21Dude, come on.
11:51Wow.
11:53Thank you, Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy, for your leadership, your integrity.
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