Highlights
- Commander Reid Wiseman declares current era as space travel's golden age.
- Victor Glover becomes first Black astronaut to travel beyond low-Earth orbit.
- Crew to splash down off San Diego coast at nearly 24,000mph on Friday.
Commander Reid Wiseman praised the international collaboration, stating: "It is unbelievable to think that we could build an international team led by the United States of America and set our sights out on a sustained presence on the moon and onto Mars and then we can go and achieve it."
He stressed that the nation could accomplish anything with vision, declaring: "We are in the golden age of space travel right now. There's just limitless potential here."
Pilot Victor Glover, who made history as the first Black man to travel beyond low-Earth orbit, told young people watching: "There's nothing that we can't accomplish when we pull all of our differences together … and when we work on something big for the good of everyone."
He encouraged the "future citizens" to carry lessons from the mission in their hearts and minds.
The crew described witnessing a lunar eclipse as one of their most unique experiences.
Mission specialist Christina Koch said the sight "rendered us speechless", while Canadian Space Agency specialist Jeremy Hansen agreed it was truly extraordinary.
Return operations detailed
NASA officials outlined the complex re-entry procedures required for Friday's splashdown.
Lead flight director Jeff Radigan stressed the precision needed, noting the team has "less than a degree of an angle" to achieve the correct flight path.
"Let's not beat around the bush. We have to hit that angle correctly – otherwise we're not going to have a successful re-entry," he explained.
The Orion capsule will separate from its service module at 4.33pm PT (7.33pm ET) , with splashdown scheduled for 5.07pm PT several miles off San Diego.
The USS John P Murtha awaits to conduct recovery operations, expected to last between one and 90 minutes.
NASA's associate administrator Amit Kshatriya praised the engineering teams: "To every engineer, every technician that's touched this machine, tomorrow belongs to you."
Following extraction, the four-person crew will undergo medical evaluations before travelling to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
