The crew of four arrived at Ellington Field near NASA's Johnson Space Centre and Mission Control, flying in from San Diego where they splashed down just offshore the evening before.
After a quick reunion with their spouses and children, the astronauts took the hangar stage, surrounded by space centre workers and other invited guests. The crowd included NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, flight and launch directors, Orion capsule and exploration system managers, high-ranking military officers, members of Congress, the space agency's entire blue-suited astronaut corps and more.
"The long wait is over. After a brief 53-year intermission, the show goes on," Isaacman said. "Ladies and gentlemen, your Artemis II crew," he added, as the crowd stood, applauded and cheered.
Commander Reid Wiseman and his US-Canadian crew's homecoming was poignant: They returned to their Houston home base on the 56th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13, whose "Houston, we've had a problem" refrain turned a near-disaster into triumph.
Wiseman told his crewmates: "We are bonded forever."
Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canada's Jeremy Hansen were the first humans to fly to the moon since Apollo 17 closed out NASA's first exploration era in 1972.
"This was not easy." Wiseman said. "Before you launch, it feels like it's the greatest dream on earth. And when you're out there, you just want to get back to your families and your friends. It's a special thing to be a human and it's a special thing to be on planet earth."
Christina Koch said she was struck by her view of earth from space.
"Honestly, what struck me wasn't just earth, it was all of the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbably in the universe. Planet earth you are a crew," she said.
Jeremy Hansen said the crew embodied love "and extracting joy out of that" as the four joined together to stand in a row, embracing one another. "When you look up here, you're not looking at us. We are a mirror reflecting you. And if you like what you see then just look a little deeper This is you."
Canadian Space Agency President Lisa Campbell called the mission "a powerful moment." She told Hansen he represents "the best of what it means to be Canadian."
During Artemis II's nearly 10-day mission, they voyaged deeper into space than the moon explorers of decades past and captured views of the lunar far side never witnessed before by human eyes. A total solar eclipse added to the cosmic wonder.
On their record-breaking flyby, the astronauts reached a maximum 406,771 kilometres from earth before hanging a U-turn behind the moon, eclipsing Apollo's 13 distance record.
Despite the accomplishments, Artemis II astronauts had to contend with a more mundane problem — a malfunctioning space toilet. NASA promised a design fix before longer moon-landing missions.
The space agency is already preparing for next year's Artemis III, which will see a new crew practice docking its capsule with a lunar lander in orbit around earth. That will set the stage for the all-important Artemis IV moon landing in 2028, when two astronauts attempt a touchdown near the lunar south pole.
15°C