On April 16, NASA gave The Nubian Message the opportunity to dial in for their news conference with the crew members of Artemis II.

Artemis II broke multiple records and set new horizons while out in space for 10 days. As the spacecraft’s pilot, Victor Glover was the first Black man to travel beyond Earth’s lower orbit. The other crew members broke similar records with Christina Koch being the first woman, Reid Wiseman the oldest man and Jeremy Hansen the first Canadian to travel the farthest from Earth.

In Wiseman’s opening remarks for the conference, he said, “When we came home, we were shocked at the global outpouring of support, of pride, of ownership of this mission. And really, I think at the beginning, that’s what the four of us wanted. We wanted to go out and try to do something that would … unite the world.”

Further into the event, Robert Pearlman from collectSPACE, “a news publication and online community for space history enthusiasts and professionals,” asked them which photo taken during the mission they would want turned into a stamp. Glover immediately thought of a picture of Earth.

“So what popped into my head, as you were asking, that is the picture of the Earth as we started to go farther from the Earth … because when we were getting really close to the moon, talking about looking at you and how beautiful Earth is, that represents how far we were … I cannot overstress that we did this together. And so that picture to me is at least representative of a lot for this mission,” he said.

“I think something that we all feel and we try to share is how much we want to reflect back to you all how we did this, not we as a crew, we as countries and as humans did this,” Glover said.

After the Artemis II crew’s return to Earth, many would expect them to celebrate the progress made in space exploration. But they did more than that, they celebrated the team that contributed to this historic moment.

When Aaron Anthony from CBS News asked Koch what advice she would give to the first woman to walk on the moon, she emphasized the importance of teamwork. “If you remember that being part of a team is your main goal, and the main thing that you put ahead of everything else, that when the world tries to make the accomplishment something different than what it really is, which is a team accomplishment, you will know,” Koch said.

The crew isn’t just thinking about their team but also the future astronauts who get to take the Artemis mission even further. “Part of our ethos as a crew and our values from the very beginning were that this is a relay race,” Koch said.

“We’re always thinking from the perspective of what is the next crew going to think about this? How will this help them to succeed?” Koch said. “We’ve really just worked to make sure that they are set up for success.”

In fact, the crew has batons to symbolize the core aspect of not only the Artemis mission but the goal of space exploration: advancement.

The emphasis on bonding is not limited to their roles as astronauts but extends to who the crew members are individually

“I will tell you, first of all, the four of us are now forged in a friendship that is very unique and we will cherish this bond that we share for the rest of our lives,” Wiseman said.

The crew showcased their bond when Hansen had requested to name one of the bright craters on the moon Carroll in homage to Wiseman’s deceased wife. “It was a powerful moment up here … my crewmates approached me when we were at Kennedy in quarantine and they said, hey, we — the three of them — had talked and they would like to do this. And that was an emotional moment for me. And I just thought that was just a total treasure that they had thought through this and they had offered this,” Wiseman said.

The moment had left them emotional. “I think when Jeremy spelled Carroll’s name … I think for me, that’s when I was overwhelmed with emotion. And I looked over and Christina was crying. I put my hand down on Jeremy’s hand as he was still talking. It was right there on that rail and I could just tell he was trembling … And we all pretty much broke down right there,” Wiseman said.

When asked by Rebecca Morales from BBC News about the number one thing they’ll miss about being in space, Koch was the first to answer. “I will miss this camaraderie,” she said. “This sense of teamwork is something that you don’t usually get as an adult. I mean, we are close, like brothers and sisters, and that is a privilege we will never have again.”

“We are bonded forever, and no one down here is ever going to know what the four of us just went through. And it was the most special thing that will ever happen in my life,” Wiseman said.

Koch explained their experience, stating: “When we saw tiny Earth, people asked our crew what impressions we had. And honestly, what struck me wasn’t necessarily just Earth,” she said. “It was all the blackness around it. Earth was just this lifeboat hanging undisturbed in the universe. I know I haven’t learned everything that this journey has yet to teach me, but there’s one new thing I know, and that is planet Earth.”

According to the Artemis II crew, their mission was fueled by the human pursuit of connection and a desire to quench curiosity. This mission brought not just the crew together but the world as well.