'Screams of delight': Artemis crew flying home to thrilled Nasa scientists

The Artemis II astronauts were jetting towards Earth and sharing their lunar flyby souvenirs yesterday (7 April), delighting colleagues both at home and in space with captivating tales of their historic journey.

Of note was their stunning shot of an Earthset, the moment when Earth drops below the rugged lunar horizon.

The image was a deliberate nod to the iconic Earthrise image taken during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, a shot that helped capture the public's imagination as humans travelled around the Moon for the first time.

The modern version released by Nasa and the White House pairs the delicate, watery planet Earth with the harsh curve of the Moon, separated by black space.

The astronauts were busy Tuesday afternoon debriefing lunar scientists in Houston's mission control about what they had witnessed during their nearly seven-hour observation period of the Moon.

"Our whole lunar science team and the broader science community have been pouring out positive feedback and gratitude, so know that what you did yesterday really made a difference scientifically," Kelsey Young, the lunar science lead for the Artemis II mission, told the crew.

Speaking to a briefing later on, Young said "spirits are very high."

"We did what we set out to do."

The crew of four -- US astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, and Victor Glover along with Canadian Jeremy Hansen -- looped around Earth's natural satellite as part of a broader program paving the way for a Moon landing as soon as 2028.

After completing their lunar flyby -- in which they also broke the record for distance from Earth -- they were bound for home, with splashdown due in the Pacific off the California coast late Friday.

In the meantime they took a call from colleagues in space -- chatting with crewmembers aboard the International Space Station.

"It's fun to be up in space with you at the same time!" said Hansen.

Tonight they'll have another chance to speak with their families, NASA said.

'Screams of delight'

The crew have reported in vivid detail features of the lunar surface and later witnessed a solar eclipse, when the Moon passed in front of the Sun.

They also described flashes of light -- meteor strikes -- on the Moon's surface.

"Humans probably have not evolved to see what we're seeing," said Victor Glover. "It is truly hard to describe. It is amazing."

Young reported that there were "audible screams of delight" in Nasa's Science Evaluation Room as the astronauts evoked their observations.

Late Monday, the crew got a congratulatory call from Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman and US President Donald Trump, who at 79 is old enough to remember the Apollo program.

He was, in a word, impressed.

"You've really inspired the entire world," Trump said, calling them "modern-day pioneers" who have "a lot of courage."

He probed the astronauts about their favourite moments and asked what it was like to lose connection with Earth for some 40 minutes during an expected communications blackout.

The call even had a little signal glitch of its own, with Trump waiting expectantly as the astronauts appeared not to hear him for a full minute.

"Might have gotten cut off," Trump said afterwards. "It is a long distance."

Historic trip

The Artemis II team broke the distance record set by the 1970 Apollo 13 mission, which they surpassed by more than 4,000 miles (more than 6,000 kilometers) when they reached the journey's furthest distance from Earth 252,756 miles (406,771 kilometers).

Glover was the first person of colour to fly around the Moon, Koch was the first woman, and Canadian Hansen the first non-American.

The Orion capsule carrying the astronauts is now traveling back to Earth in a so-called free-return trajectory ahead of its ocean splashdown.

Administrator Isaacman said the ship that will recover the astronauts has left port en route to the meeting point.