Oprah and the Artemis II Crew: To the Moon and Back

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: Oprah and the Artemis II Crew: To the Moon and Back

Podcast: The Oprah Podcast
Host: Oprah Winfrey
Guests: Artemis II Crew – Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Canadian Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen
Date: May 12, 2026

---

Episode Overview

In this landmark episode, Oprah welcomes the four crew members of Artemis II to her backyard for their first in-depth conversation since returning from the historic moon mission. Their discussion spans the personal, emotional, and philosophical impact of their nine-day voyage, reflections on humanity's place in the universe, the power of teamwork, and the poignant moments that defined their journey. Through candid stories and shared wisdom, the Artemis II crew reveals how venturing farther from Earth than any human has gone in five decades has transformed their perspectives and deepened their sense of unity, humility, and hope for the future.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Awe and Perspective of the Moon Mission

• Mission Recap: Artemis II sent four astronauts around the moon for the first time in 54 years, reaching the farthest distance ever traveled by humans: 252,756 miles from Earth ([02:03]).

  • Commander Wiseman: “We forgot how beautiful it is to look down on Earth.” ([02:00])
  • Mission Specialist Hansen: “We are going for all humanity.” ([01:51])

• Transcendence and Unity:

  • Crew described the experience as “otherworldly.”
    • Wiseman: “I don’t think humanity has evolved to the point of being able to comprehend what we’re looking at right now.” ([02:25])
  • Victor Glover highlighted Earth’s fragility: “You have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together.” ([02:58])

2. Integration of the Experience & Returning to Earth

• Processing the Journey:

  • The crew journals extensively, still unpacking what it means to have witnessed the moon and the Earth from afar.
    • Wiseman: “Maybe it’s getting less real every day, Oprah. I cannot believe we went and did this. I can't believe the world trusted us to go do this…” ([03:52])

• Team Bonding:

  • Crew intentionally nurtured their friendship for optimal teamwork.
    • Christina Koch: “Our ultimate goal was to come back as best friends.” ([04:31])
    • On living and training together for years before launch.

• Grounding After Space:

  • Koch: “It just teaches you to savor those small moments...every single cup of coffee is there. And those things are what truly matters.” ([07:04])
  • Glover references T.S. Eliot: “We shall not cease from exploration...we will return home and see it as for the first time.” ([08:44])

3. Spiritual and Emotional Impact

• Spiritual Experience:

  • Koch: “I do think it was a very spiritual experience... but also because of the way we treated each other on this mission. We had so much love for each other.” ([09:49])
  • Jeremy Hansen: “There was an extraordinary amount of grace up there.” ([10:38])

• Selection Process:

  • Crew describes being chosen as a mix of technical excellence, team compatibility, and luck.
    • Glover: “There’s a little bit of luck as well...You may not. The timing just may not work. So we are all very lucky.” ([11:36])

4. Defining Moments and Relationships

• The Carroll Crater Moment:
  • The crew named a lunar crater after a deceased loved one, Carroll (Commander Wiseman’s wife).
    • Jeremy Hansen: “Sometimes you just have a feeling...When we finally saw them and they were so visual... I knew I had the words somewhere inside of me.” ([16:15])
    • Wiseman: “It’s a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call it Carroll...Carol was a bright spot.” ([14:07]; [14:55])
  • Crew hugs, tears, and deep bonding followed.

5. The View from the Moon – “Earthset” and Tiny Earth

• Magnificence of “Earthset”

  • Wiseman describes the Earth setting behind the Moon: “...crystal clarity with your human eye...it’s just crystal clear as that occurs. And then it’s gone. In a blink of an eye, it’s gone.” ([18:08]–[19:07])
  • Koch: “It was so small that we started calling home, tiny Earth. ... You just can’t process how small Earth is until you’re 250,000 miles away from it.” ([23:34])

• Humanity’s Fragility and Unity:

  • Glover: “I wish we could find a way to get billions of people to space to see that perspective...It won’t fix everything, but it would give some perspective...” ([08:27])

6. Reflections on Being “Encoded” for Space

• Nature, Curiosity, and Gifts:
  • Koch shares: “My husband told me, ‘Honey, you were made to be an astronaut. You were not made to swim.’” ([29:00])
  • Hansen recounts Indigenous wisdom: “The beaver has the wisdom to know how to use its gift to change its environment in a manner that supports others in bringing their gifts to the world.” ([29:48])

7. Grappling With Risk and the Unknown

• Open Conversations with Family:

  • Crew candidly discusses mortality and contingency plans with loved ones before launch.
    • Wiseman: “We read through the will, we read through the trust. If I don’t come back…” ([42:00])
  • Glover sent his family and crew a poem by Chief Tecumseh for strength and perspective.

• Sharing Risk with Each Other:

  • Crew held conversations about how they’d respond in dire situations: “If we knew we were in that situation, we would handle it with grace and honor and almost a solemnness.” ([46:07])

8. In-Space Anxieties and Daily Life

• Handling Alarms and Emergencies:

  • Wiseman: “We have a rule in our crew. No fast hands. Don’t go fast if you can stand it.” ([47:43]) – particularly during mid-mission technical alarms.
  • Keeping calm: “Some of these crew members have ice in their veins. But yes, it gets your attention.” ([49:09])

• Everyday Logistics:

  • Survival suits: “Built to keep you alive for six days… you can do everything you need to do in the suits.” ([49:14])
  • Hygiene: “We have towels that have soap already in them…you got to wash the toes—most important thing...Everything is a group activity.” (Glover, [50:30])
  • Koch was the “space plumber” by seat assignment, managing the spacecraft toilet. ([51:32])

9. Training for Calm and Composure

• Training Not to Panic:
  • Glover: “It’s not that we don’t get nervous...You just need to be good enough to do the next right thing.” ([53:22])
  • Wiseman: “When we launched, I have never felt peace in my life like that...We were all at peace. We were all so comfortable with where we were.” ([53:47])

10. Diversity, Representation and Inspiration

• Progress in Representation:

  • Noting that 30% of Artemis launch team were women, compared to just one woman in the control room during Apollo 11 ([36:06]).
    • Koch: “You are enough... We were enough. And I would say to [girls], you are, too.” ([36:22])

• Encouragement for Young Women:

  • Koch emphasized the value of authenticity, accepting imperfections, and recognizing growth over time—advice for future generations.

11. Reentry and Reintegration

• Coming Home:
  • Glover: “It requires intentionality...You have to enter that space [at home] not as a person who [has changed], but you have to enter the new space...It’s easy not to lean into [ego] because there’s so much attention that everybody else has.” ([38:51]; [39:50])
  • Hansen: “Things have changed, but the things that I’m craving are the ones that stayed the same...when we’re together, it’s just the way it always was.” ([40:44])

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On seeing Earth from afar
  • “Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly in the universe.” — Victor Glover ([02:46])
  • “It was about the size of your fingernail out the window...you just can’t process how small Earth is until you’re 250,000 miles away.” — Reid Wiseman ([23:34])
• On human connection
  • “Even though that was a bit of the expectation, I think it exceeded my expectations. There’s a lot of Grace given.” — Jeremy Hansen ([10:38])
  • “There was an extraordinary amount of grace up there.” — Hansen ([10:38])
• On Artemis II’s legacy
  • “You went all the way out there, farther than any human beings have ever traveled before, to remind us of who we are. And so what you brought back to us was not just what was out there, but you brought back to us a sense of ourselves.”— Oprah ([54:40])
• On representing humanity
  • “Representing the human species, not just Canada, not just the United States, but representing the human species.” — Oprah ([56:47])
  • “I was really hoping that while we were waiting to get back into contact that people could just feel that sense of togetherness, that we were all a crew on spaceship Earth.” — Victor Glover ([57:13])
• On risk, family, and courage
  • “Life is risky, even if you’re not climbing on an 8 million pound rocket and going around the moon. And I think these conversations are very healthy.” — Wiseman ([42:04])
• On encouragement and being enough
  • “You are enough...before we did that, we were enough. And I would say to [young women], you are, too.” — Christina Koch ([36:22])
• On doing the next right thing
  • “You may have a hundred things to do, but you need to just be good enough to do the next right thing.” —Glover ([53:22])

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Mission Recap and Crew Introductions ([00:24]–[03:39])
• Experiencing the Moon and Seeing Earth ([02:15]–[04:53])
• Processing the Experience & Journaling ([03:52]–[04:31])
• Team Cohesion and Friendship ([04:31]–[06:22])
• Personal Impact, Spirituality, and Perspective ([07:04]–[10:53])
• Crew Selection Process ([10:53]–[12:46])
• Carroll Crater Dedication - Deep Crew Bonding ([13:10]–[16:15])
• Describing ‘Earthset’ and ‘Tiny Earth’ ([18:08]–[23:34])
• Risk Conversations with Family ([41:48]–[45:30])
• Handling In-Mission Emergencies & Calm Under Pressure ([47:00]–[54:40])
• Women in Space, Representation, and Advice to Young People ([36:06]–[38:26])
• Returning to Earth, Reintegration, and Humility ([38:26]–[41:19])

---

Episode Tone

The conversation is warm, reflective, often deeply emotional, and filled with gratitude and humility. Oprah’s curiosity and ability to tap into the crew’s interior journeys brings out candid stories of vulnerability, growth, and cosmic awe, balanced with humor (such as talking about hygiene in space and the infamous “space plumber” role).

---

Final Reflections

Returning from the far side of the moon, the Artemis II crew brought back not just scientific data, but a renewed sense of shared humanity. Their journey, marked by courage, love, perspective, and unity, challenges us to see our “tiny Earth” for the rare, precious lifeboat it is—and to appreciate the beauty and fragility of home, connection, and the human spirit.

---

Transcript

[A]

Hello, hello. How are you? My Jeremy.

[B]

Lovely to meet you.

[A]

Hello, hello, hello, hello.

[C]

I have waited my whole life for this.

[A]

Guess who's on the podcast this week? Artemis Toad.

[C]

I lost my mind.

[B]

I can't wait till that's posted. That's my ringtone.

[A]

Hi, everybody on the planet Earth. It's such an exciting day around here in my backyard. You know, I remember just being 15 years old and I was watching the first moon landing and hearing Neil Armstrong

[D]

say, it's one small step for man,

[C]

one giant leap for mankind.

[A]

And at the time, I couldn't even believe it. I remember standing in my aunt's house and they're like, are they really on the moon? I don't know. Are they really on the moon? Yes, they were on the moon. So now, over five decades later, the Artemis II astronauts have returned to Earth after making their own history. Here's a quick look at that remarkable, remarkable journey. For the first time in nearly 54

[C]

years, the Artemis 2 crew is go for launch. 4, 3, 2, 1.

[A]

The world held its breath.

[C]

Booster ignition and liftoff.

[A]

As NASA launched four astronauts into space to complete a first of its kind test mission to the moon.

[C]

The crew of Artemis 2 now bound for the moon.

[A]

The crew of Artemis II included American astronauts Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian mission specialist Jeremy Hansen.

[D]

This is Jeremy. We are going for all humanity.

[A]

They spent more than nine days inside a spacecraft named Integrity.

[C]

And we forgot how beautiful it is to look down on Earth.

[A]

Using gravity to slingshot around the far side of the moon, integrity reached 252,756 miles from Earth, the greatest distance ever traveled into space by human beings.

[D]

To all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you.

[A]

From the moon, Artemis crew captured the world's attention.

[C]

I don't think humanity has evolved to the point of being able to comprehend what we're looking at right now, because it was otherworldly. It was amazing.

[A]

Not only for their awe inspiring courage going to the far side of the moon.

[E]

What struck me wasn't necessarily just Earth. It was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbingly

[A]

in the universe, but also for the unique perspective they shared. A message of unity and hope.

[F]

The purpose of humanity is joy and lifting one another up, creating together.

[B]

This is a whole bunch of nothing, this thing we call the universe. You have this oasis, this beautiful place that we get to exist together.

[A]

Mm. I am just. The word honor doesn't even say enough, but I Am so honored to be able to welcome you all to my backyard. Thank you. Thank you so much. The Artemis II crew, you all know them by name now. Commander Reid Weissman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Cook, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen. It is a joy. I love that statement, that humanity not being able to actually comprehend what you all saw and experienced. And I'm wondering now that you're back down to earth in gravity, whether the comprehension has become more real for you. Does it get more real every day, or is it still something that happened out there?

[C]

I actually. Maybe it's getting less real every day, Oprah. It has not gotten more real for me. I go back and look at. We all did a lot of journaling while we were up there, and we're just starting to dig into those journals and really read through them. And I just cannot believe we went and did this. I can't believe that the world trusted us to go do this. And then the world followed along. It is the greatest honor.

[A]

And every time you see the tape, as you were rolling the tape leading into this episode, I could see you're still looking at it like that actually happened. Right.

[C]

I got to fly with Christina, Victor, and Jeremy. We're just the best friends.

[A]

So I heard you started out as friends and then became best friends. Is that what happened?

[E]

Absolutely. And I think we have a lot to thank our commander for, because he set out that purpose from the beginning, that our ultimate goal was to come back as best friends. And it really set the tone for how we showed up for each other, how we handled our team cohesion intentionally. We worked on it, and I'm really happy with where we ended up.

[A]

But I want to get back to that question. Victor, do you. Do you feel grounded yet? Has the impact of what happened out there, including all of the press reaction from the rest of the world and our impressions of you. Has that landed with you yet?

[B]

Hearing that question come from you, I can easily say, no, it has not. It. It's still pretty unreal. I spent the two weeks right after we got back when we were focusing on science collection and reconditioning, going to the gym and making sure that we were all healthy. And I wasn't watching the news. I wasn't online. And then we started the media tour last week, and it's just been amazing. I think we set out trying to do something meaningful, you know, And I think we are now seeing we maybe did okay. And the reaction is. It is unreal. It's what Reid said earlier. Like, it's it's hard to put it in context, and it sitting here in your backyard, it makes it seem even more unreal.

[E]

This is not out of body.

[A]

I'm having an out of body experience, but yes. So I want to know what has moved you the most about the world's reaction? What has moved you the most about the world's reaction to this journey? Because I think that every single person who experienced watching you all do that was moved inside in a way that not even we expected. So what has moved you, Jeremy?

[F]

It's so heartwarming for all of us in that people just paid attention to something that was positive, collaborative, and for me, it's just such a sigh.

[A]

We so needed it.

[F]

Absolutely. It was a sigh of relief that we don't want to just pay attention to the negative. We actually do want to create together. We do want to lift each other up. And it was just. We got home and it's like, oh, wow.

[B]

People want that.

[F]

Thank goodness.

[A]

Wow. And this is the thing. When you have had the peak ultimate experience that no one else has had, you've traveled a farther distance from the planet Earth than anyone else has. How do you come back down to Earth and enjoy a cup of coffee on the porch?

[E]

Well, actually, it's funny, because that's exactly what we enjoy the most. We enjoy these small things. And there may be this perspective change, at least for me. I experience it, say, when I'm walking on the beach and I look up at the blue sky and I imagine what it looked like looking down at Earth and the beautiful bright blue that is the sky from the other direction. And I can picture that, and I can picture the planet that I'm on on this universal scale. But it just teaches you to just savor those small moments. Because when you're that far away, that's the only thing that matters. Because you're looking at a planet where every single person you love is. Every misstep, every success, every single cup of coffee is there. And those things are what truly matters. They're what bring meaning to a huge, giant universe.

[A]

I think one of the things that struck me is that you all realized immediately, but you've seen this before because you've all lived at the space station. So you know that we're suspended out here in this black. And I love the word, the use of the word lifeboat, that we are. We are. We are the lifeboat. And that you can see from up there that all the things that we're fighting about, that there are no boundaries. I think that's what you said, Victor,

[B]

I wish we could find a way to get billions of people to space to see that perspective. It would not fix all of the things that are going on on the planet, but it sure would give some perspective and build, buy in, you know, just the willingness to look at things.

[A]

Build, buy in.

[B]

It's buy in willingness. It's all about willingness. And I think that perspective can just nudge us in that direction because it does truly put things in perspective. You get so far away from it. You know, I was thinking about this quote, this poem while Christina was just talking. There's a T.S. eliot poem, Little Getting. And it's got this line that we shall not cease from exploration. At the end of our exploring is this. That we will return home and see it as for the first time. That cup of coffee, that neighbor, that handshake, Oprah's backyard. It all has a slightly different feel and context when you get to go away from it and miss it a little bit. And I wish everybody could miss Earth. That is a gift to be able to say I missed Earth. But you come back and I think now all of us feel like we are ambassadors of that and you just have to find a way to share.

[A]

That was ultimately it a. You all say you all kept journals. I've been keeping a journal forever. I love that you did. Was it ultimately a life altering spiritual experience? How would you categorize it?

[C]

I think I'm still thinking about that, but I definitely was deeply impacted by this journey and I do think it was a very spiritual experience. But I also think that spiritual experience was presented to us because of the way we treated each other on this mission. We had so much love for each other, and I do not use that word lightly. We had so much love for each other.

[A]

Did you start out with the love?

[C]

Yes, we start. We were very intentional about this, and I think we did start out with it. But you never know what's gonna happen when the engines light and when you're in space. And there were just moments right from the beginning of the story because you

[A]

knew you could all get along. Because we were working together on the

[E]

yes for three years.

[A]

So there was a baseline respect and regard for each other as colleagues, of

[C]

course, but there's always friction in there. There's always friction in any human relationship environment.

[F]

Yeah, I think we surprised ourselves after we landed. We talked about just. There was an extraordinary amount of grace up there. Even though that was a bit of the expectation, I think it exceeded my expectations. There's a lot of Grace given.

[A]

So tell us, how were you all selected? How does this process work?

[C]

First you have to become an astronaut. That's pretty competitive. I think there's a lot of luck that comes in that the numbers are tiny and the applications are large. Go to Houston, interview for the job to become an astronaut, I think the primary thing they look at, you know, you have a good technical background, but they just look, can you survive as a team player in a small spacecraft for a long time? And then for this mission in particular, I think we were just. We were all experienced space station flyers. We were fairly known quantities. We had Jeremy as the rookie, but he got selected when I got selected, and he's probably the textbook team player. Team skills with Jeremy are really phenomenal. We knew the agency, we knew the mission, we knew each other pretty well. So it was pretty easy there.

[B]

But there's a little bit of luck as well.

[A]

A little bit.

[B]

Explain because there's, you know, our office is 50 or so people, and there are folks that are on the space station that have the skills. And the timing was just. They were gone in space already. And so they weren't even in the pool to be selected. And so I just want to acknowledge that, absolutely, you can work and think, hey, I'm a great person for that mission, but you may not. The timing just may not work. So we are all very lucky.

[A]

But the person who put this together or the team that put this together and said, it's going to be you, and it's going to be you, it's going to be. You must have seen something in each of you to say this is a good fit.

[C]

I think you could take any four from our office and put them together and get a good fit. I really do.

[A]

I believe that.

[E]

And there's also something special about knowing that there's no way we are the ultimate four best people for this mission. And we have to accept that and recognize that bringing our best to the table is all we can do and to carry that burden of knowing that there is luck involved. And we aren't necessarily the perfect people if you look to all across the billions on the planet, but we're the ones that have the honor and responsibility and we're going to do our best.

[F]

Pass that over.

[C]

Yeah, that was awesome.

[A]

Okay, so what was. I have read and heard that the greatest bonding moment was when you all were on the other side of the moon and you named the crater after your wife Carol. And that after that moment, y' all were just, like, connected forever. Was that the moment or were there a series?

[C]

You should ask the whole crew. But for me in particular, that was the moment where there was. We were bonded at that moment.

[D]

Our science team helped us out with a couple of relatively fresh craters on the Moon that have not been previously named. And our crew would like to propose a couple of potential names for those items or those areas. And so at certain times of the Moon's transit around Earth, we will be able to see this from Earth. A number of years ago, we started this journey and our close knit astronaut family. And we lost a loved one. The spouse of Reed, the mother of Katie and Ellie. And it's a, it's a bright spot on the moon. And we would like to call a Carol. And you spell that. C, A, R, R, O, L, L,

[E]

Integrity and Carroll Crater.

[A]

Loud and clear.

[E]

Thank you.

[A]

Wow, that was a moment.

[B]

It's kind of like how you asked if going was a spiritual experience. It's yes and no. That moment did something. But it also showed things that were in work for three years. We have been running this race, this lap of this race for a long time. And you know, there was a moment where Christina came up with this idea. I believe it was originally your thought. We talked about it, the three of us. Jeremy went and talked to Reed to make sure that it would be okay. But then I really do believe it was magic. When he started to speak during the mission, it just, I don't, I don't

[A]

know when you started to speak about Carol. Yes.

[B]

And he just, he got choked up and we all got choked up at different times. The part that caught me is when he said it was. We were just looking at images and it's a fresh, a newer crater and it's bright. It actually has a very light, what they call a high albedo spot on the moon. And he said Carol was a bright spot. And that was the moment that I lost it. And I think the hugging was starting and it just, it did do something, but it also reminded us of something that had been going on for three years.

[A]

So what did that mean for you and your family? One of your daughters posted about what

[C]

that meant to have that moment really came together. People don't know how much they should cherish Jeremy right at that moment because that moment was not planned for, for that time. We didn't know when we were going to do that. And both of my children had come into mission Control to sit in the back when we passed the distance record for Apollo 13. And we could look out the window and see that crater And Jeremy just knew it was the right time, it was the right time to do that. And I think for, for my kids, we haven't unpacked any of that yet. I think that's down the road. But just to know that, that their mom, who they, they love for eternity,

[B]

there's a, has a crater.

[A]

There's a bright spot on the moon. There's a bright spot on the moon named after Carol. How did you know that was a moon, Jeremy?

[F]

I think, you know, sometimes you just have a feeling. When we, like Victor said, when we saw it for the first time, that was when I was like, oh, I actually feel like I have the words now to do this. When we were planning on the ground, I just didn't know if I'd be able to see it with the naked eye. And Kelsey and our science team helped send me some images so I could basically follow the breadcrumbs on the moon going from the big craters to follow and map it till we could get to the smaller items. And then when we finally saw them and they were so visual, like sitting right there. And then I just, I knew I had the words somewhere inside of me. And we were talking to the ground team and I just keyed the mic and kept going.

[A]

Wow. After the break, did any of you think that perhaps there's some other life out here somewhere? That thought has to occur to you that we can't be the only ones on tiny Earth. And so how have you resolved that question for yourself? Stay with us.

[C]

Zootopia 2 has come home to Disney. Let's go get ready for a new case.

[A]

We're gonna crack this case and prove

[E]

we're victorious partners of all time.

[C]

New friends.

[A]

You are Gary the Snake. And your last name Desnake.

[C]

Dream team.

[B]

The new habit.

[A]

Zootopia has a secret reptile population.

[C]

You can watch the record breaking phenomenon at home. You're clearly working at Zootopia 2.

[A]

Now available on Disney.

[B]

Rated PG.

[A]

Welcome back to the Oprah podcast. With the crew of Artemis 2, we can imagine all of the incredible moments that you all experienced there. I heard you talk about witnessing an Earth set. And just hearing the word Earth set made my eyes water because I love watching sunset so much. And so an Earth set. Explain to us what an Earth set is.

[C]

As you're going around the far side of the moon, you get the privilege of watching the only planet that we know houses life set behind the moon. Just like when you're at the beach and you watch the sunset over the waves and you can just See the sun start to evaporate down in the atmosphere. There's no atmosphere on the Moon, but we could certainly watch as our home planet started to set. When the sun sets, you see it start to misshape through the atmosphere. If you're at the beach and you look at it over the. When the Earth sets behind the Moon. I've said this multiple times in different ways. I've never said it this way, but you know for a fact the Moon cannot sustain life because there is no atmosphere. And as you're watching in crystal clarity with your human eye, the Earth setting behind the Moon, you can see the craters and the mountains on the Moon in the Earth setting behind the Moon because there is no atmosphere. It's just crystal clear as that occurs. And then it's gone. In a blink of an eye, it's gone.

[A]

Yeah. One of the things you said is that I don't believe humanity is even prepared for what we're looking at right now. What did you mean when you said that?

[C]

Victor was up in the docking hatch window and I was coming off a camera, and he said, come on up and take a look. And he moved out of the way. And I looked out that docking hatch at the Moon. And at this point, the sun had eclipsed behind the Moon. So now we had this dark gray sphere in front of us and a little bit of Earthshine on the left side. The sun was bouncing off the Earth and illuminating a little bit of the left side of the Moon. And it was perfectly three dimensional. And nothing that I had prepared for in that entire journey prepared me to look out and see that. And I was so thankful that I had my friend there and just to be on.

[A]

You witnessed it too.

[B]

The best I could do was just suggest somebody come look at it. I really. You know, the idea that people trusted us to go do this, that scientists were counting on us to describe what we were seeing, I really took that serious and loved sharing what we were seeing and how it felt. I didn't have it for that. I just. This took another brain, another set of eyes. Like, I cannot start putting words to it. There's so much about that you can see the picture. You know, we take pictures sometimes, and when there's something bright, you can't see the stars in the background, for example, but I could see the ring around the moon glowing. And so there was a halo around the Moon, but I could see stars through it. I mean, that alone. I went, wait, I don't. I do not understand, but I'm looking At it.

[A]

I understand you burst into tears when you could see the chaplain on the ship. What was behind that?

[C]

I am not a religious person. I just had no other way to. When you come back from space, first of all, you have a lot of adrenaline. And we had gotten to the Navy ship, and I just. I'm looking across at Victor, and it popped into my head that on every Navy ship, there is a chaplain, and I knew there would be a chaplain on that ship. So I asked if we could see the chaplain. And when he walked in, I just lost. Completely lost emotional control. Like, of everybody on that ship, I thought he was probably the one that could come the closest to relating to what the four of us had just been through.

[B]

That is also. It was a powerful moment for you. That was. Of all these amazing things, that was a powerful moment for me to watch you do that. Just. We talk about integrity. Our ship was Integrity. And instead of.

[A]

I love that it was named that. Yes.

[B]

My gosh. And to live in Integrity. We had an instructor from the National Outdoor Leadership School that talked about, you know, it's not, you have integrity or you don't have it. Sometimes you're in it, and sometimes you're out working to get back in. And so being in Integrity, this statement makes me feel the same way. It's. I'm not a religious person or I'm not a spiritual person, but I would say that even I'm not speaking for you, but watching you, that was a spiritual moment. For me, it was like being in Integrity.

[A]

So I want to know what was that moment like for each of you? For you, you and Christina and Jeremy and Victor. Did each of you have one of those moments? You all had that moment together? Yeah. What was a defining moment?

[E]

Well, maybe the theme is home, because when people ask me what surprised me the most about my space station mission and what you saw that surprised you the most? I say it was how you felt when you looked down at your home, where you're from, where you grew up, a place that you learn to identify on a map by the shape of the landforms. And for me, the first time I saw the Outer Banks of North Carolina come around, and I first realized they crystallized that that's where they were. And I knew what it felt like to be on that spot on planet Earth. It was home, and it took my breath away. And something on this mission that was a little different was we couldn't make out specific landforms or places on Earth, but the entire planet was home. And it was so far away and so perfect that I almost expected, like, I could look out the other window and see Neptune and that wouldn't be home. And the fact that that entire planet was home and there was so much else that wasn't was just something I'm still coming to terms with.

[C]

It was so small.

[E]

It was so small.

[C]

When I hear her talking about this planet out the window, I need you to visualize that it was about the size of your fingernail out the window. It was so small that we started calling home, tiny Earth. And I want people that listen to this or to watch this to understand. You just can't process how small Earth is until you're 250,000 miles away from it. And all of that becomes so real,

[A]

Jeremy, for you, the moment, so many

[F]

I could share with you. But I will pick one that really surprised me, that I wasn't prepared for, from all the videos and images I've seen before I flew, was when I would look out and I would see tiny Earth, but then I would see not the field of view of a camera, but the field of view of a human brain. And when I'm on Earth and I look up in the night sky and I see all the stars, and to me, they're sort of painted on a canvas in the night sky. But when I saw them from space, it was like it was a diorama I was looking at, and they had depth and I could see, like, these ones look closer. These ones look like they're further. But I wasn't just viewing this diorama. I was in the diorama. And to have the Earth and the Moon and all of that juxtaposition, I don't have the words, but it was this three dimensional, the three dimensionality of it that just every time I saw that and perceived it, I was awestruck.

[A]

Well, Victor, we all know you were the pilot for Artemis 2 as a young boy growing up, was this the fulfillment of something that was beyond anything you could have imagined? Or was this a part of the

[B]

dream beyond, beyond, beyond imaginable? You know, I didn't know pilots when I was young. And so it's so interesting. I hear Reed talk about his childhood and wanting to be an engineer, but thinking that that meant driving trains. So I wanted to drive trains because mentors told me, hey, you're good at math. You might want to be an engineer. So I. Way, way beyond. But I used to stare up at the moon. And so it's so amazing, that image, this thing that all of us look at all the time and maybe take for granted a little bit to get to see it in a new way. Maybe it is a little bit of a, you know, accomplishment of a dream that's always been back there, but definitely beyond anything I could imagine.

[A]

You said we explore to learn about where we are, why we are understanding the big questions about our place in the universe, which I think a lot of people think about often. So what have you learned about our. About that big question about our place in the universe?

[B]

First, to get comfortable with big questions. To get comfortable with questions. We're so quick to defend a position and want to have a debate, but to just appreciate questions that I am very comfortable not knowing I don't have the answer.

[A]

Did any of you think that perhaps there's some other life out here somewhere? That thought has to occur to you that we can't be the only ones on tiny Earth? And so how have you resolved that question for yourself?

[B]

Statistically speaking, you just look at how big the universe is, and you think there's gotta be something out there. And with all of the efforts of the United States and all of our partner governments, we have not found it yet. And so I would say that it's this massive opportunity for there to be something, but also a reminder how important it is for us to take care of this something that we know, because we haven't found another place that we could do this yet.

[A]

Okay, so let's talk about this. I just interviewed Jim Collins recently. Jim Collins is one of the great leadership executives and teachers and philosophers in the country. He wrote Good to Great. And all the businesses used that book, Good to Great. And he just recently wrote a book called what to make of a Life. And he begins a story talking about John Glenn and how John Glenn first saw airplanes in the sky and then wanted to be a pilot. And he says that John Glenn didn't just aspire to be an astronaut, but that John Glenn and all the other people he writes about in his book what to make of a Life were encoded for it. He says John Glenn was encoded for to be an astronaut. I see you smiling. Were you encoded to be an astronaut? Like, it's just. It's just in there.

[E]

I can start with this, but it's just because I have an anecdote, because I don't know the real answer to that. But about two years ago, I decided I wanted to learn to swim. And I am not coordinated. I'm the least coordinated person you can imagine. And my husband watched me struggle for about a year and A half straight to try to learn to swim. I would actually try to learn just to kick my feet and go straight in the pool. And I would go backwards. And people would say, what were you doing? Was that some kind of a drill? And I would say, no, I'm just that bad at swimming. And my husband told me, honey, you were made to be an astronaut. You were not made to swim. And I feel like one person believes

[A]

in me, that I'm made to be an astronaut.

[E]

Made to be an astronaut.

[A]

Okay, okay. I like that anecdote.

[C]

If I could just see one. Common thread is, like. Christina often says what she would recommend to young folks is to do things that scare you. Like, do things out of your comfort zone. And when I look at the four of us in our astronaut office as a whole, we are fairly comfortable doing things that. That are. You just kind of throw yourself into it. There's. There's. If. If there was a helicopter sitting over there, I would want to just go get in it, figure it out. There's just. We just have that kind of natural curiosity. I almost think it's a curiosity just put me in an unknown position and let me see if I can work my way through it. And I think when I look at the four of us, we. We just like that. That is something we just enjoy doing. Jeremy, you. You really. I love it when you talk about every. Every human has a gift.

[F]

Oh, yes. Well, that was something that was shared with me from an indigenous elder at the Turtle Lodge that created this mission patch for the Cain aspect of the mission. And in each of these, there's, like, seven animals. They represent the seven sacred laws. But there's one teaching that I really love, and it's the teaching of the beaver. And it's that the beaver has a special gift. Of course it can chew down trees. Nothing else can chew down trees. But it has the wisdom to know how to use its gift to change its environment in a manner that supports others in bringing their gifts to the world.

[A]

I heard that you were grappling with this question of how could you possibly be happy when people are dying and suffering throughout the world?

[F]

You know, that question I really answered when I went on the vision quest with this elder. And that was the question I was really struggling with at that time. And the sort of the epiphany I had was that, you know, Jeremy, you don't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Your job every day is to wake up, to try to leave the world better than you found it, to try to contribute your energy in a way that lifts others up. And that is where you source your joy. And if everybody just tries to do that simple thing, it's just not as hard as we make it. If you try to do that simple thing, you can have joy.

[A]

After the break.

[G]

This episode of the Oprah Podcast is brought to you inpart by booking.com. if you're looking to grow your vacation rental business, this is the place to be. Booking.com is one of the most downloaded travel apps in the world, and for good reason. Since 2010, they've helped over 1.8 billion vacation rental guests find places to stay. But here's the thing. Most vacation rental hosts don't even realize they can list their properties on booking.com and if you're not on the platform, your rental is basically invisible to millions of Booking.com travelers worldwide. After all, they can't book what they can't see, right? When you list on booking.com, your property gets seen by a massive global audience. And it couldn't be any easier. You can register your property in as little as 15 minutes. Nearly half of hosts get their first booking within a week. So if your vacation rental isn't listed on booking.com, it could be invisible to millions of travelers searching the platform. Don't miss out on consistent bookings and global reach. Head over to booking.com and start your listing today. Get seen, get booked on booking.com how

[A]

did you all talk to your families about the risks involved? Do you actually say the words, if I don't come back? Stay with us. Welcome back to the Oprah Podcast with the crew of Artemis 2. Okay, now I want to talk about that liftoff and traveling through Earth's atmosphere. What's going through your mind in that moment?

[C]

We're at 39 times the speed of sound. We're six miles every. Not six miles a minute.

[B]

Second. Six miles a second at entry, 25,000 miles per hour.

[A]

You're 25,000 miles per hour

[C]

a lot.

[B]

Maybe all the things.

[E]

Yep. Teamwork, trust in your team. We had an amazing relationship with the folks that designed the one piece of equipment that does all of the work or most of the work on re entry, which is the heat shield. And we had an incredible relationship with them, and we really came together as a team. And I was thinking about them, and I was thinking about this team, and I was thinking about the team. I was coming home.

[A]

You're thinking about all that went into making that lift off possible. And you just mentioned the space Station. So you were out there longer than any female has ever been there. How many days? 328 days.

[E]

328.

[A]

And you did like five. Over 5,000 orbits, if someone counted.

[E]

That's probably right. I'm not sure.

[A]

Yes. And so how is that experience compared to what you just experienced?

[E]

Yeah. Wow. You know, I think that the thing that struck me and my takeaway on perspective that was different was how far away we were from our home planet.

[A]

Because it doesn't. It's not that far away when you're at the space station.

[E]

When you're at the space station, you're about 250 miles up. So we were about 1,000 times farther. And you can see a horizon. You can make out landforms.

[A]

And all of the Earth doesn't look like tiny Earth. It looks like big Earth.

[E]

Right. Gorgeous. Big, beautiful Earth. And there's so many things that come with that with being able to identify places on Earth. And maybe you could say, though, that the more important difference is where we went. We went to the moon. We have a relationship with the moon, which is something that's meant something to all of us. It's meant something to civilization since the beginning of time. And we left part of ourselves there. We miss it. And having that, this destination that we got to go explore is another aspect that we have to internalize. Different from the space station.

[A]

And still internalizing it.

[E]

And still internalizing it probably for the

[C]

rest of our lives.

[E]

But the space station enabled our mission. The 25 years of continuous people living on board, everything we've learned there about how to operate, about teamwork, we brought that with us.

[A]

And you learn how to be in a tiny little space and. Yeah. Does it ever get to the point where you're like, you can't be claustrophobic and they must know you're not claustrophobic. Right. Does it ever get to the point

[F]

where, surprisingly, I mean, we joked before we went. I mean, I would often say, I'm sure when they open that hatch on day 10, that we will be ready to get out. But I was not ready to get out.

[B]

Not at all.

[F]

If they had said we could have stayed in space longer, I would have been like, I'm fine with that.

[A]

Really.

[B]

He kept joking on the mission that we're going to do a perigee rays burn, which would mean we would go by the air and do it all over again. We're going to keep going. A victory lap.

[E]

Yep, we were ready.

[A]

Let's look at this photo. This photo. We found this photo My team did from 19. This is a control room, 1969, Apollo 11 launch. Joanne Morgan is the only woman, and she's an instrumentation controller. And, you know, if you're looking at the wide shot of that picture, you have to squint to actually see her in that photograph. And now 30% I hear of the Artemis launch team on the ground were women.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

I think about how hard that must have been for her.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

First and foremost. And then when you say 30%, I wonder why. It's not 50, but it is great to have the team that we have.

[A]

Yeah. So what do you want to say to young women?

[E]

I think what I would really want to say to them right now, in this moment, is, you are enough. And I say that because. So in my high school, someone donated a statue of me, and it made me uneasy. Something about it just didn't sit perfectly well with me. And it wasn't just my. My humility or something like that. And I finally put my finger on it. I. I was worried that the. The people that would walk through the door and see it would think that they weren't enough because that statue was too perfect of a representation. And at the little speech making that. That I did when it opened, I made sure to talk about the person I was in high school and how unsure I was of myself, how many mistakes I made, how many people I hurt, people that hurt me. And I just wanted them to know that they don't have to be as perfect as a statue. And sometimes right now, I feel like this crew is a little bit like that statue. We, in being here and talking about the superlatives, it doesn't tell the whole story because we have a long story, a lot of people behind us, a lot of missteps, couple victories. But all that came together to make us these people that very humanly carried everyone's dreams around the far side of the moon. But, you know, before we did that, we were enough. And I would say to them, you are, too.

[A]

Well, you know what's so interesting is that from everything that we have seen of you, you know, going off into space, coming back, and now this, you know, world press tour, you all seem still so humble and still, you know, have your feet on the ground about all of this. What keeps you not leaning into the, you know, the. The ego ness of all of this.

[B]

Four daughters.

[A]

Four daughters.

[B]

No, I love. It just happened my first mission, I landed, and my oldest daughter graduated from high school three weeks later. And this mission, it was about a month. My youngest Daughter graduates from high school and that is actually very helpful to be able to come back and try to just reintegrate back in, into my life. And I think it's.

[A]

Is it hard reintegrating? I mean, it's hard. It's hard when you go on a business trip. So I'm sure it's really challenging.

[B]

It requires intentionality, you know, and I think it depends on where your life was when you launched. And you know, my first time I launched it was six months later and this time it was 10 days. And I hope I didn't leave the garage door open. And so it's different, but it requires intentionality. And I knew that because I got to practice it before in the military and on my first mission. But it's still different. My kids are five years, they're all adults now. They're five years older than the last time. And so that has been a very helpful perspective for me. But also, what do you have to

[A]

do entering the space? I remember a friend who was an actor who was saying, if he's gone away on a six month trip and you come back, the space is different. It's changed.

[B]

Yeah, it's changed.

[A]

And so you have to enter that space not as a person who, but you have to enter the new space. So what changes for you when you're re entering?

[B]

At the end of that very long comment, I'm also going to say that to not be, to not feel the room. My kids have personalities. My wife has a personality. They want to share, they want to be listened to. And America trusted us to do this. The world trusted us to do this. Canada trusted us to do this. And it's not just for us to tell the story, it's to listen to people. My church asked me to talk about the mission and in listening to people talk at church, I was like, okay, I agree to do it. If it can be a community discussion, if we can all. I've heard things from each of them that I had not heard before and I was gone just like watching the video. So it's to not, to not fill the room. It's easy not to lean into it because there's so much attention that everybody else has.

[A]

And also everybody wants to hear from you. Yes, everybody wants to hear.

[B]

But that's just one piece.

[A]

That's just one piece. Jeremy, how would you answer that question re entering the space with your wife and family?

[F]

Well, very warmly, like really supported. I felt really supported leading up to the launch because that's a very stressful time. And I just thought maybe the cracks would start to show in the family unit. But we really leaned in together. We had two conferences with our families when we were in space. And those just felt so warm and positive and so coming back. Yes, things have changed, but the things that I'm craving are the ones that stayed the same. And I feel like they have a sense of that. And we're just, when we're together, it's just the way it always was.

[A]

How did you all talk to your families about the risks involved? Because you know, as you all were re entering, all of us are holding our breaths and we're watching that fire rocket ship come, come down and we're all having a collective universal prayer that it's gonna, gonna be okay. And I can imagine what that is like for your families, taking off and landing. So did you have the discussion before? Have the discussion with your daughters?

[C]

100%. And you have. They don't want to hear the discussion. At least that was my perception. But you have to have it. You have to hit it head on.

[A]

Do you actually say the words if I don't come back or if something happens?

[C]

We read through the will, we read through the trust. If I don't come back.

[F]

Here is where you're going to go.

[C]

Here's here your guardians will be, here's where you will spend your, your Christmas, your holidays. Here is where you'll spend your summers. And what I found in that, although it's difficult, there's probably two things I want to say. The first I want to say is I felt like it was liberating for them. I felt like it gave them space to just accept that this is a possibility. And then not many people have these conversations with their families, period. But life is risky, even if you're not climbing on an 8 million pound rocket and going around the moon. And I think these conversations are very healthy. And another thing that this, this conversation helped me with, but then also my crew has helped me with, is there are a lot of things that you want to shy away from. And you. Those build up in your soul. You can feel them building up when you shy away from a conversation that you should be having. And I'm not perfect. I shy away from. They know I shy away from just about every tough conversation. It's hard for me. But I have found every time you have those conversations, even if they don't go well, you come out the other side. Just your soul is a little bit freer. That's something I'm still. That's part of my journey at 50 years old is to still work my way through that. But don't avoid. You have to. You have to talk about those things.

[A]

Yeah. Did you, Christina?

[E]

I did. I had those conversations with my husband, and he knew I was working on a will. He was aware of the risks. And I sort of waited, I would say, till the mission was very salient, till we were in quarantine. And I knew that he knew that I was going on a journey that I understood the risks of and that it was the fulfillment of my life's work and all of my dreams, and that that would bring him peace if I didn't come back. But what I realized I needed him to know was that none of that was what meant the most to me and why he should actually have peace. It was because he loved me and I loved him, and that's why it would be okay.

[B]

I'm struggling with a short answer to this because it is such a profound thing to try to walk through. I think the characteristic that stands out the most is I had this conversation the very first time at about 28 years old, getting ready to go into combat. And so five deployments and a space mission. My kid, my life and my family, my wife, we've all changed. And this last time, my kids were all adults. And so this was a very different. The most different conversation. And I felt like I needed to respect their adulthood. And it just was an honest conversation. And at the end of it, I felt it was very heavy. I mean, not everybody is having these types of conversations, but it's important. And I.

[A]

Did you do it one on one, or did you do it as a group?

[B]

A little bit of both. I've got four very different daughters and, you know, different needs there. And so a little bit of both. And then at the end, I just. I had to send them a poem. I need. I was like, I don't know. I don't know how I ended that. And so I sent them this poem and Chief Tecumseh, it's a really. Just well written, very dense. I love it. It's a way to live your life. But in the end, it talks about if you go out, you know, sing your song and go out in a blaze of glory. And it's a very rich poem. And so I sent that to them, and they all appreciated it, I think, and so it helped to end it on a little more positive note.

[C]

And you sent that to us before we launched, too?

[B]

Yes, I also sent it to the crew.

[A]

You sent them the poem?

[B]

I Sent it to the crew two days or one day before launch, I guess it was. I should have sent a little earlier.

[C]

That's a great poem.

[E]

It was perfect for me.

[F]

We were having a discuss as a crew about like, what if we end up in that situation where we are still alive but we don't think we're coming back? How are we going to. How are we going to show up for each other? How are we going to handle it? And it was on the heels of

[A]

that, we all had that conversation.

[B]

We did his suggestion.

[E]

We did.

[B]

Great conversation.

[F]

So on the heels of that conversation, he sent us that poem. And we were like, yep, that's cool.

[A]

Okay, so how'd you bring that up, Jeremy?

[F]

Just like you bring up things here. Just look around and ask.

[E]

I will say that conversation I remember so well because he did. He brought it up in the perfect Jeremy way of just. And what we had established as a crew is that if we knew we were in that situation, we would handle it with grace and honor and almost a solemnness. But I will say that is beautiful. But there was a moment on the mission where it did not serve me because on reentry I was misunderstanding some of Victor's calls. And I thought he was calling our G loads way higher than they should have been. And I thought, well, he's not freaking out, so we're probably fine. And then I thought, but wait. We said we wouldn't freak out. So I don't actually know.

[C]

No way.

[A]

And wasn't there a time where you woke up in the middle of the night and there was some alarm going off?

[C]

Wasn't there every night of the mission?

[E]

Every night, except one.

[B]

Most nights. Really?

[C]

Yes. It's disorienting.

[A]

And when that alarm goes off, there was something with the fuel.

[C]

We had an alarm. It's called a run box caution. And what that could potentially mean is that you're leaking your fuel out of the spacecraft and that's not a great situation for us. And we did. We had a runbox alarm at 2 in the morning. Very disoriented. Time is weird up there. So. Because we run off of a different clock. But it was in the middle of sleep and I woke up very disoriented. I slept underneath the displays. Victor was right to my left. And I woke up and looked. I was like, I think that's a run box. And Jeremy actually comes around. Cause he was like, oh, run box. We have to shut down the fuel system. So Jeremy came around the side of the display and started. Maybe you weren't sleeping there yet.

[B]

It was Jeremy.

[C]

Jeremy, yeah. And Jeremy came around very. And we were all very disoriented because it was middle of the night. And Jeremy started executing the procedures. And then we just. We have a rule in our crew. No fast hands. Like, don't go fast if you can stand it. And so I was looking at the displays and looking at the fuel system and we were waiting for ground to call, and Jeremy was starting to configure. And I just said, hey, let's stop. At least in my mind that's how it went. And let's just. Let's just pause for a second because these indications I see are not. They're not aligning with this. The level. The extreme level of this caution. And that created some tension in the crew for a moment because we have very explicit instructions. You save the fuel system there because you could be leaking your fuel into the vacuum of space, and that is deadly. But we did stop and we all talked about it for a few seconds and we worked our way out of that and we did have a very small leak which caused that caution. But it was not a great situation and we just needed to monitor it for a little while.

[A]

So you all are trained to stay calm, right?

[F]

Well, we like to think so.

[A]

You like to think so. I don't wake up to an alarm and haven't even in the days of the Oprah show where I had to get up at 5:30 every morning because the alarm alarms me and I don't want to start my day being alarmed. So if I were to hear an alarm in the middle of the night, it's just like, you know, when people had real phones and if the phone rings in the middle of the night, 3:00am you know, it's a problem. And you're. So when you heard the alarms, does that. Does your heart immediately start palpitating? Are you like,

[C]

probably individual. There's. Some of these crew members have ice in their veins. But yes, it gets your attention.

[A]

Quick, let's talk about again some of the logistics because I hear that those orange suits are built to keep you alive for six days. For six days. And so what's in those suits then? You can poop in the suits. You can do everything you need to do, and then you can poop in the suits. You can do whatever you need to do in the suits.

[E]

Yes, absolutely. Some of the eat and drink and

[A]

everything is in the suits.

[E]

Yes, they have a plan for that. And we practiced with those systems both on the ground, and we did what's called a flight test objective to test them out in space to see how they worked in microgravity. And it would not be a fun six days, but the idea is it would be survivable if you use the equipment that's provided for eating and drinking. There's a port actually in the side of the helmet, and you can put a straw in. And we have these very special nutrition drinks.

[C]

I think it's this actual straw. Turns out it is the exact same. When I picked up this glass, I was like, oh, this is the oxygen.

[A]

I wanted you to feel familiar here. So there's no running water in space, obviously, in the capsule. And so you can't take a shower or you can't bathe in space. So how does that work?

[B]

You have towels that have soap already in them. And, you know, we don't have hot water. Our water's ambient. So depending on the attitude of the shammy bath.

[A]

Is that called a chamois bath?

[B]

Yes. Yes. And I didn't know that this was being broadcast, but I'm glad it is, because I think, you know, seeing the process, seeing the daily things, I mean, hey, I gotta watch the toes. You getting in between those toes, you got to. That's the most important thing, and that's an important part of it. The other thing you see in this, My favorite thing about this is something we've been trying to share. Everything is a group activity. I mean, you know, Jeremy's eating and cleaning his spoon, and I'm cleaning my body right there. You probably wouldn't do those two things in the same room.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Let alone that close to each other at home. But we only had one room. And so you use that towel. And what we were able to do is put it in the food warmer. We put it in the food warmer to warm it up so you could do a hot bath.

[A]

Oh, a hot chammy. Yes, a hot chammy. And I understand that you were the space plumber, Christina.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

How did you get that job?

[E]

Well, actually, it's just by seat. My seat. I was in charge of two main things, and it was just because of where I was sitting. I was sitting next to the hatch, and I was sitting next to the toilet. So I got to set up the toilet as soon as we got to

[A]

orbit after the break. There's something about the four of you that has connected and gonna try not to cry. That is connected in such a way. That is, you went all the way out there, farther than any human beings have ever traveled before, to remind us of who we are. Stay with us. Welcome back to the Oprah podcast with the crew of Artemis 2. So I was talking earlier about, in the preparation, you train not to panic. How do you train not to panic?

[B]

Maybe, actually.

[A]

So do they put you in situations that your body normally would panic? You know, I was doing some hiking this past summer, and I got onto a cliff that I shouldn't have been on. My body automatically started to shake. I thought I was calm, but my knees started knocking together and my body started to shake, and I couldn't stop myself from shaking. So how do you stop yourself from panicking when everything in your body says, I should be scared right now?

[B]

You know, Reid was being very complimentary, saying, you know, some of us may have ice in our veins, but I don't think any of us do. We're all humans, and we all have. We're the people that came into this. But one of the benefits of training is you get a chance to practice doing things when the alarms go off. And I love this idea I borrowed from someone. And doing the next right thing, you may have a hundred things to do, but you need to just be good enough to do the next right thing. And I specifically say this a lot about public speaking. That's something that kind of universally makes people nervous.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I like to get up on stage and tell people to look closely at my hand. It's shaking. But I've learned to work through that. I can give a speech while nervous. It actually helps me speak better now. But it's not that we don't get nervous. We just know how to work through or with that, to still do the right thing.

[C]

I want to add one thing to that. The day before we launched, you get to see some of your extended family through this quarantine facility. So you can actually talk to me

[F]

just on the phone.

[C]

And my dad and my brother were there, and I inadvertently made my dad tear up. And it was because I said, you know, dad. My dad was very worried about the risk of the mission. I said, dad, Look, I got two amazing kids. I'm 50 years old. I got an amazing life. I am so at peace right now. When we launched, I have never felt peace in my life like that. Never. And I think that played a huge factor in it. I was going into space with three great people, and I just felt we were all at peace. We were all so comfortable with where we were, and it helped. I was much more frightened on my first mission to the International Space Station 10 years earlier because my life wasn't in that state of peace. And now I was there, and I think that had a hugely foundational.

[A]

Would you all say the same thing?

[F]

Definitely. Yeah.

[A]

You were at peace.

[E]

100%.

[A]

Yeah. I think that's what we're all feeling. There's something about the four of you that has connected and gonna try not to cry. That is connected in such a way. That is. You went all the way out there, farther than any human beings have ever traveled before, to remind us of who we are. And so what you brought back to us was not just what was out there, but you brought back to us a sense of ourselves. And you can only do that when you have that together yourself.

[C]

So true.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

Thank you.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

What you just said is the best gift you could ever give us, because that is all we ever wanted.

[A]

Yeah.

[E]

And you all did that. We didn't do that.

[A]

No. I think you all actually played a part. It's the synergy. It's like the symbiotic relationship here, but it feels like something really genuine, and it's so genuine that that's why we are moved by it. At that point where you all had absolutely zero contact with mission control.

[E]

Houston copies. We'll see.

[A]

On the other side, was that scary or was that calming for 40 minutes?

[C]

Jeremy, what do you think?

[F]

It was not scary for us because, you know, we trust in science. We knew we were going to come out the other side, and to be out of contact was not a big deal.

[A]

So for one second, were you saying, I hope this works.

[F]

Yeah, not really scary, but we. But the one thing. It was significant. Like, it was significant to be in that spot with these three people. And it was obvious to me that we all looked at each other in that moment and we thought, wow, this is a really unique human experience. One of the other things I didn't say earlier, that I should have added to the diorama comment about just seeing the juxtaposition, but it made me feel really tiny and insignificant. And so did being on the far side of the moon with you guys. But it also, at the same time, made me feel extremely powerful that we were there as a human species, powerful as a collective. And that kind of sums up that feeling of being and the far side of the moon.

[A]

I think that's interesting. Representing the human species, not just Canada, not just the United States, but representing the human species. And I read that you said this. Victor, you said this. I took a brief moment to say a short prayer of gratitude for being sent on this mission. And I was really hoping that While we were waiting to get back into contact that people could just feel that sense of togetherness that we were all a crew on spaceship Earth.

[B]

You know, you asked about was it a scary moment? Not for our physical well being or getting back in contact. The gravity assist around was going to work and we had sim that the thing I would say I was the most worried about was that we might miss the opportunity to just be connected for a moment and to have a human moment. A moment, you know, when we lose someone, we have a moment of silence to out of respect. Well, we were going into radio silence and so I love this idea of a moment of togetherness. It just seemed like we had a chance to be together, do the same thing as humans for this same moment. And I was worried that that wouldn't, you know, break through the noise floor of all the things going on online and on tv. And that was my biggest concern. But we didn't have time to be worried because we were busy doing things. We were closest to the moon and farthest from the Earth right around that time. And so we had Christina and I were making observations, looking out of the windows and recording them on our computers. And I actually meant to say my prayer and then go to the recording, but I was in the middle of a science recording when I said my prayer. And so, you know, the science team gets to listen to this, this recording in the middle of that observation. Sorry, I'm a little distracted in this moment. I'm just gonna do it on the recording. To our heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity. All glory to you. I just ask you to continue to be with us. We have a lot of mission ahead of us. God bless us. In Jesus name, Amen. It was also very busy. You know, we were working and we took a minute to have a human moment and we went right back to work and we picked up communications a little over 40 minutes later.

[A]

Let's talk about Jeremy, that re entry. What's it like.