SALT LAKE CITY — It was a moment many were watching on the edge of their seats, when people of all ages gathered to watch the Artemis II crew finish their mission.
However, that didn’t come without anxiety.
“I think they might survive probably,” said Ida Nice. "I think based on the launch it’s going to go really well,” her mother Kathy Nice added.
“I was starting to get more and more nervous, especially during that six minutes... where we didn't have any communications or data from the Orion spacecraft,” said Damon Talbot, "Artemis I, there was a few issues with the heat shield, so I was very concerned about whether the changes they made would work or not.”
However, after those six agonizing minutes, relief came over the crowd.
“When you're coming in through reentry, there's only one shot. There's only one direction to go, but the truth is, we prepared for it. We wouldn't have launched if we weren’t confident that we could get there,” said Thomas Quayle with Clark Planetarium.
It turns out Quayle was exactly right, but witnessing the splashdown had a deeper meaning for some viewers.
“It’s a pretty landmark mission to have Christina Koch on board,” Kathy said," All of the Apollo missions were all men in them,” Ida added.
Many are hopeful this mission will inspire the younger generation to learn more about space.
“When I was growing up watching the space shuttle is what really, I think, got me to be kind of this space nerd. So now, seeing these kids have a similar opportunity that's been better with us going to the moon just makes me think that we're going to get a lot of new experiences,” Talbot said.
“To have a generation of people who saw the last people launch the moon and come back, and then another generation who never saw that be connected for the first time and be like, I saw that too,” Quayle said, “what a great moment.”
The space excitement is already rubbing off on Copeland Riddell.
“There might be new stuff in it, and you might never know until you go in it in a rocket ship,” he said.
