The Artemis II mission, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center on April 1, 2026 and is crewed by NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, is on its way to the moon to complete the first manned moon mission since 1972, and the astronauts took a bit of time to speak to Fox News Channel about what it’s like being up in space and completing such a historic mission.
Specifically, they spoke to FNC’s Trace Gallagher for a special program on returning to the moon, one in which they commented on the technical challenge the mission poses, their great success at getting underway and headed into the great beyond so far, and the sort of legacy they are creating the foundation for so that future astronauts can build on it.
At one point during the interview, for example, Gallagher asked what it is like being the humans to travel the farthest ever, so far, at least, out into space. He said, “You, in a few days, will become the first humans to travel the farthest in space…is that a moment of pride? Is it a moment of history? How do we feel about that?”
It was astronaut Christina Koch who responded, noting that while the crew tries to not get too attached to superlatives and arbitrary markers, it’s certainly a milestone. She said, “We are not necessarily a crew that lives on superlatives, but it is a milestone that’s important.”
Continuing, she noted that while that’s just a number, what they hope is that it is a starting point from which the renewed space program can build as it charts a legacy into the future. She said, “We think that the journey that we’ve been on, and all of our teams have been on with us, is so much more than just one number, but we also hope that that number just keeps being exceeded and exceeded by the future crews. That’s why we’re here, to build a legacy for the future.”
At another point during the interview, the crew commented on the fact that they are headed out into space, on their journey to the moon, and that soon they will be being pulled by lunar gravity. They said, “We are definitely 100% on our way to the moon. The lunar gravity will take over in a couple of days here and start pulling us around the far side.”
Continuing, they noted that it’s incredible they’re getting to do this again after about five decades of the Moon missions being halted, saying, “At the end of our translunar injection here, about an hour and a half ago, we just really looked at each other — and I know the United States has done this 1968 through 1972 — but it’s just, this is unbelievable, that we can put our minds to something and pull it off. This is an unbelievable technical accomplishment.”
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At still another point, Gallagher asked them what it was like when their rocket launched, and they knew they were actually headed out into space. He said, “Missions tend to be delayed…This thing went pretty much according to what everybody was hoping it would do. Was that somewhat surprising when they said, we are a go for launch?”
Watch the interview here: