Artemis II astronauts describe reentry to Earth, splashdown to David Muir

[0:00] We turn next tonight here to my interview with all four astronauts just back from space. [0:04] Tonight, for the first time, they described to us those moments inside the capsule as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, [0:10] facing temperatures of 5,000 degrees, what it was like inside that capsule, what we had not heard before. [0:16] Also, the decision that moved them all. [0:18] And tonight, the question that suddenly had all of the astronauts laughing, and we loved their answer. [0:24] My interview with the astronauts just a short time ago. [0:27] Well, thank you all for joining us. It hasn't even been a week yet. [0:30] I'm sure you're all still working to grasp the full scope of what it is you've witnessed, the history you've made. [0:35] I just wanted to thank you all because you gave us all a gift, a moment of real unity, and we're just grateful for what you've done. [0:42] Commander Weissman, I wanted to start with you about the history made, going farther than any human has gone before. [0:47] You saw the far side of the moon. Communication went dark for a time. [0:51] Can you describe the silence and those moments witnessing the far side of the moon? What was it like? [0:55] When you see, I mean, you get to see so many amazing things. [0:59] And you see your home planet. You see Earth eclipsing behind the moon. [1:05] And it's just such a neat thing to see as a human being. [1:11] And then once the Earth is out of sight, we know we can't talk to home anymore. [1:16] And as the four crew members, that is when the science was actually getting the hottest and the heaviest for us. [1:22] There was the far side of the moon is never seen by humans on Earth. [1:25] And so we had a chance to see it. And we were seeing areas of the moon that had never been lit up during the Apollo era. [1:31] So this is the first time four humans have set their eyes on the far side of the moon. [1:34] And to be quite honest, we did take a minute, just a few seconds. [1:38] We shared some some maple cream cookies that that Jeremy had brought outside of contact with all of Earth. [1:44] And then it was right back to the cameras, right back to the science notes. [1:47] And we were just documenting every single thing that we could see on the far side. [1:50] And we were the best vantage point you could ever wish for. [1:53] Victor, did it hit you in that moment, that moment of silence other than the four of you when you went further than any humans gone before? [2:00] You know, in the moment, I couldn't process because I said a quick prayer and went right back to, you know, describing what I was seeing on the surface. [2:07] And and I'm still processing it all. [2:10] But I say it the thing that that wells to the surface right now is just immense gratitude for the trust in us. [2:15] Gratitude from all of us, too. [2:17] Hey, Christina, you spoke of looking back at Earth at one point, and we loved hearing you say that you could see the coastline of the continent. [2:23] You could see the rivers. You said you look beautiful. [2:26] But you've also said since that you noticed something else, the blackness around Earth, our place in the universe. [2:33] I'm wondering what that impact had on you in that moment. [2:37] It wasn't something I expected to notice. [2:39] I think that Earth is the most beautiful thing you can possibly witness from space. [2:43] But it is what I took in was how much not Earth there was. [2:51] We were just a lifeboat. [2:53] Victor said it before. The Earth was no different than our spaceship in that moment. [2:58] We were just two different things keeping humans alive in the universe. [3:02] You all said just today that you launched as friends, but you landed as best friends. [3:07] And I got to say, we could all tell back here on Earth just watching you. [3:11] Commander Weissman, I wanted to ask you about that moment during the mission when your crewmate, Jeremy Hansen, [3:16] said that all of you wanted to name one of the craters in the backside of the moon after your late wife, Carol, who died of cancer. [3:22] We could hear it in Jeremy's voice. [3:24] The bright spot. [3:37] Commander, I wonder what that moment was like for you. [3:41] I said it's the pinnacle of my entire life to be able to do something like that on this crew, [3:46] to honor a woman who was so amazing and the mother of my two daughters, Ellie and Katie. [3:51] There are no words. [3:53] I cannot express how I felt in that moment. [3:56] And as Jeremy was going through, when he decided, when the crew decided to do this right before flight, [4:02] I just said, I cannot be the one who talks about this because I won't make it through. [4:06] And I know for my two daughters who had to watch their dad hurl himself around the moon with three of his best friends, [4:13] that was a gift that can never be repaid. [4:16] And Jeremy, we could hear it in your voice, too. [4:19] We could all see in that moment the connection the four of you have. [4:22] We didn't really know how we would do it or when, when that would feel right or it's just, I mean, we've never done it before. [4:30] And when we got up there, we were getting close to the moon and we started to see, we could see it with our own eyes. [4:35] And that's where it just kind of, we just felt it. [4:37] It just felt right. [4:38] And, but that was tough to get through. [4:40] Christina, we were all on the air live here, watching re-entry. [4:44] Millions of Americans back home here on Earth were watching. [4:47] We were told integrity of the capsule would face temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. [4:53] Can you take us inside the capsule in that moment? [4:55] What could you sense in that moment of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere? [4:58] What could you see? [4:59] What could you sense? [5:02] Well, what people might not know is that re-entry is at least 10 times wilder of an experience than any rocket launch. [5:10] It is the most phenomenal part, the grand finale of any space flight. [5:14] Coming back to a planet is no joke. [5:16] It's not like landing a plane. [5:17] You come through the atmosphere and you know it as soon as you start to hit those air particles. [5:23] You start to feel the rumbling. [5:24] And then when that plasma comes, it's like nothing you can believe. [5:28] We saw the plasma out the windows the entire time. [5:30] I was sitting right by the side hatch, which has a window. [5:33] Jeremy and I could also see out the docking hatch. [5:36] And the fireball that we were in got so bright that it was like an arc welder. [5:40] You almost couldn't even look at it. [5:42] And just the intensity of that, the G's coming on, Victor calling them out, hearing in their voices that they couldn't speak normally because of the weight on their chest. [5:52] It was amazing. [5:53] And then I think the best part was at the end when we were just no longer, when we were sort of just falling straight down instead of using our roll vector to give us lift and actually direct our path in. [6:04] We started rumbling a lot because we were basically just a bell falling through the atmosphere. [6:09] And that rumbling was not something we could have ever practiced on Earth. [6:12] And Reid said, this is nominal, everything's nominal. [6:16] And I thought to myself, he has no idea if this is nominal. [6:19] But I'm glad he just said that because I feel better now. [6:22] Nominal to reassure all of you inside that capsule. [6:25] You know, obviously you were aware of the six minutes. [6:27] For people watching us, we had the six minutes of silence as you all were going through that. [6:31] I mean, are you just hard at work? [6:33] Are you focused? [6:34] Or were you sort of nervous wrecks like the rest of us watching here back on Earth? [6:39] I want to start, and then Victor's definitely going to talk about that. [6:43] But I just want to tell you, this man is the real deal. [6:47] So we were under four Gs for about 13 minutes, and the entire time he had a cadence of altitudes and speeds, and he never missed a beat. [6:56] Like, it was the most impressive operational experience I have been through watching him go through entry. [7:02] That's too kind. [7:03] I will just say it was intense. [7:05] I think it was intense. [7:06] The heat, I mean, literally and figuratively intense. [7:09] And we, you know, in that blackout, not only do we lose the ability to communicate, we lose the ability for, you know, mission control to command to the vehicle. [7:19] And so if something were to go wrong, one of the reasons that cadence was so important is we know when things should happen. [7:25] And if they don't happen automatically, we have to get involved and make sure that the forward bay cover comes off, the drogue and pilot and mains come out. [7:33] And so we just had to be on it. [7:35] But when we hit the water, it was a spiritual moment. [7:38] It was so nice to splash down. [7:39] And I think I don't remember exactly. [7:42] I think I just said, welcome back to Earth. [7:43] It was so, such a good moment. [7:45] I can't even imagine what that splashdown moment must have been like for all of you. [7:48] When you see the images of the capsule now and what you all faced at those temperatures of, what, 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, does it drive home the danger you faced? [7:57] And really for the rest of us, the bravery of the four of you sitting right there. [8:00] Seeing the capsule on the ship the morning after we landed, just before we got on the helicopters to fly back to San Diego, I just had like this immense feeling of gratitude for that ship because it went through a lot and it kept four humans alive. [8:15] We're glad you're all home, that you're all safe. [8:18] One last question. [8:19] And whose Nutella was that that was floating by you in space? [8:24] That was ours. [8:26] That was ours. [8:27] Yes. [8:28] You do everything as a four-person crew in space. [8:30] I love that. [8:31] Very diplomatic. [8:32] Well, thank you all. [8:33] And thank you all for the gift of unity you gave all of us back here on Earth. [8:36] It was a moment beyond ourselves here and something we could all rally behind. [8:41] And it was a wonderful thing. [8:42] We're glad you're home safe. [8:45] Thank you. [8:45] Thank you. [8:45] Thank you. [8:46] Thank you. [8:46] The four astronauts who made history, their bravery, and I just have to say tonight, they just seem like great human beings. [8:52] Our interview late today with them, and I thank them.