Christina Koch, astronauts preparing for first trip to the moon in 50 years

The crew spent a week in February preparing their return to earth off the coast of San Diego.

Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman praised service members involved in their training.

“Everyone is there for a mission, purpose and [to] assist, and they’re ready to throw their lives on any problem to get the mission accomplished,” he said.

Wiseman and Koch are part of the four-person crew traveling to the moon. While the Artemis project is about sustainable living and living on the moon, the ultimate goal is human life on Mars.

“It’s about building on what we learn and exploring deeper. That means going to Mars and answering some of those questions,” Koch said. “What does it me to be human? Are we alone in the universe? How did we all get here?”

After their 10-day, 685,000-mile journey around the moon, set for 2025, the Orion Capsule is forecasted to splash down near Catalina Island and San Clemente.

The goal is to get the astronauts from the capsule to a helicopter, followed by a medical evaluation, all within two hours of returning.

Wiseman said the training helped them overcome a problem during a practice run.

“For a while, we were under the rotor wash waiting for a successful hookup,” he explained. “We were watching all the potential things. Then you watch sailors fall back on training and do things with precision.”

Navy Captain David Walton, commanding officer of the USS San Diego, said the training would help “refine techniques and procedures [the] Navy will use” to recover the capsule.

When Orion takes flight in 2025, Pomona-native Victor Glover will live out his childhood dream: pilot of the Orion space capsule.

“We have a mission to explore [the] unknown in space and innovate for humanity and inspire the world through discovery,” Glover said.

Once the astronauts return from their mission, the Kennedy Space Center in Florida will take the capsule so they can use data and parts of the capsule for the next trip.