THEY WERE MINUTES FROM RE-ENTRY AT 25,000 MPH — BUT INSTEAD OF STAYING ON SCRIPT, THE ARTEMIS II CREW DID THE UNTHINKABLE: THEY PAUSED, LOOKED BACK AT EARTH, AND SENT RAW, PERSONAL MESSAGES HOME, TURNING A PRECISION MISSION INTO A HEART-STOPPING MOMENT WHERE EVERY WORD FELT LIKE IT COULD BE THEIR LAST

The Artemis II crew sent heartwarming messages to their families on their final day of their historic 10-day moon mission ahead of Friday’s splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

The four astronauts, who launched from the Kennedy Space Center on April 1, expressed how much they loved their children, nieces and nephews, and addressed the next generation of space explorers during Thursday’s call with Katie Britt (R-Alabama), NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, and other lawmakers.

Commander Reid Wiseman was the first to speak and told his daughters Ellie and Katey he loves them and said their support had been “unbelievable.”

“I don’t think they knew what this mission really meant when we launched, but they have learned through the outpouring of public support, their friend’s support and family’s support,” he said.

“Really, the world has come together. We have seen it and we have seen it through their eyes too.

“And it has been a very proud moment for me as their father to see the joy in their expression and the way they email and communicate when we have private conferences.”

Canadian Jeremy Hansen spoke about how he learns more from his kids, Devon, Ashley, and Kaitlin, than they learn from him – before offering them a piece of advice.

“But the one thing I would remind you, and I think is worth reminding ourselves and other youth is that all you have to do on any given day is just get up and do your best and try to find joy in your day and try to contribute in a meaningful and positive way,” he said.

“I think we as humans, we put too much pressure on ourselves, looking for perfection.”

Christina Koch, the only woman on the 10-day lunar flyby, thanked her nine nieces and nephews for the letters they wrote and pictures they drew.

“You had beautiful earths and rockets, and they truly touched my mission, and I feel like you’re here with me,” she said.

Pilot Victor Glover spoke about how he and his wife are looking forward to supporting their four children, Genesis, Maya, Joia, and Corrine.

“We spent years coaching you, but we are very much in that transition to being cheerleaders and just rooting for you in life,” he said.

He also reached out to budding astronauts, saying: “And to the future citizens out there, the same sentiment applies.

“I hope this mission is giving you something that you can take and put in your pocket, or in your heart and mind that you keep with you, but it’s not because we want you to see what we’ve tried to show you. It’s because we want you to take this and build a vocabulary to explain the world to us.”

The Artemis II astronauts recently took a page from the playbook of the Apollo 8 crew – naming craters – as they hurtled back towards Earth.

The crew honored Wiseman’s late wife Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020.

“Just for me personally, that was kind of the pinnacle moment of the mission for me,” a touched Wiseman said.

Jim Lovell famously named a lunar peak Mount Marilyn in honor of his wife in 1968.

Three craters are named after Lovell and crew members Frank Borman and William Anders.

The crew’s Orion capsule is set to splash down around 8:07 p.m. off the coast of San Diego and they will be recovered by the USS John P. Murtha naval ship.