The crew of Artemis II spoke with the media on Thursday, six days after returning to Earth following their mission around the Moon. After a news conference, the astronauts gave a handful of interviews,

"We leaned under and looked at the bottom of that thing, and for four humans just looking at the heat shield, it looked wonderful to us."

The astronauts who flew around the moon on Artemis 2 said they were confident the Orion spacecraft is ready to support future missions.

The four crew members gave their first press conference since they splashed down nearly a week ago, and emphasised hope and unity.

"We are carrying back everything we learned, not only about where we went but ourselves," mission specialist Christina Koch told "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil.

The Artemis II crew described in detail what the intense reentry and textbook splashdown were like in an interview with ABC's "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir, nearly a week after returning home from their historic 10-day journey to the moon and back.

After thanking everyone who made the mission possible, the crew have been sharing their thoughts on how the mission went and what they've been up to since returning home. Find out more here.

The mission served as a vital test flight as the U.S. space agency looks to put boots on the lunar surface in the years ahead and build a long-term base on the moon's south pole. Artemis II marked NASA's first human moon mission since the iconic Apollo era came to an end with its final moon landing in 1972.