CHARLOTTE — Artemis II’s astronauts returned from the moon with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego Friday evening. It was a ten-day trip around the moon, humanity’s first in more than a half-century.
It’s a mission that has put excitement back into going to the moon, especially for retired astronaut Joan Higginbotham, who now lives in Charlotte.
She flew on the “Discovery” space shuttle and spent more than 300 hours in space.
Higginbotham is close with the astronauts aboard Artemis II and said watching the splashdown was an emotional experience.
“I’m trying to keep it together; I just watched the guys splash down, it was a picture-perfect mission from liftoff to landing,” Higginbotham said. “It could not have gone more phenomenally well if they had written everything themselves. I’m glad they got off great; I’m trying to keep it together because I’m glad they got home safely because the heat shield was always a point of contention, and we wanted to make sure they worked well, and they worked beautifully.
Higginbotham is excited about all the kids who only got to see moon launches or read about them in the history books. She hopes they are inspired by them.
Artemis II was NASA’s first Artemis mission with a crew onboard. Part of the goal was to confirm that the spacecraft’s systems operate the way they should with people onboard. Artemis III will be another orbital test mission.
NASA is planning to return to the moon’s surface with Artemis IV in 2028.
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