Artemis II astronauts hold mid-space press conference, share re-entry concerns

From up in space, the Artemis II crew have detailed their concerns about their re-entry into Earth.

The smiley team of four astronauts held a mid-space press conference on Thursday afternoon, AEST, answering the burning questions of space fanatics back at home.

Asked about the “huge moment” of re-entry, pilot Victor Glover said the splashdown had been on his mind since the day he was assigned to the mission.

“I’ll be honest and say, I’ve actually been thinking about entry since April 3, 2023, when we got assigned to this mission,” Mr Glover said.

“We have to get back,” he said. “Riding a fireball through the atmosphere is profound as well.”

Mr Glover promised listeners that they could expect plenty more photos and untold stories upon the crew’s return to Earth.

The Artemis II crew are at the tail end of their historic journey around the moon, having taken off on April 1 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Aboard the Orion spacecraft, the team is compiled of Mr Glover alongside commander Reid Wiseman and mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen.

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Hansen confessed that their trip had been difficult.

“It’s really hard out here, we’re a long way from home. We’ve been learning the entire journey,” he told reporters.

He explained that the team had experienced some failures along the way, but videos from his family were a morale booster unlike any other.

“When you’re out in deep space by the moon and you are listening to a video they recorded for you before you launch, that’s something,” Mr Hansen said.

Bumping into each other

Having four people inside the Orion, which is only 5.01m in diameter and 3.3m long would seem like a tight squeeze, but Ms Koch explained how microgravity changed the team’s perspective of their quarters.

“It is bigger in microgravity,” she said on Thursday. “And yes, we are bumping into each other 100 per cent 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’.”

“Everything we do in here is a four-person activity, but it is also really fun.”

Artemis II crew are set to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday morning.

Common purpose

Just two-days out from their return, the team was asked what they will miss most about being in space, and what they won’t miss in the slightest.

For Ms Koch, the camaraderie has been an absolute highlight.

“I will miss being this close with this many people and having a common purpose, a common mission,” she said.

“This sense of teamwork is something that you don’t usually get as an adult. We are close like brothers and sisters, and that is a privilege we will never have again.”

“I don’t think there is anything I would say I won’t miss.”

Getting home

Having broken the record for human space travel previously held by the Apollo 13 mission, the task of getting home has some nervous energy to it.

Orion’s heat shield will need to endure 3000 degrees Celsius upon the crew’s re-entry to Earth, with the capsule expected to travel at more than 11km/s by the time it reaches the atmosphere.

The splashdown will be fully livestreamed, and is expected to occur on Saturday April 11 (AEST).

The crew will parachute into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego.