The heat shield on Artemis 2's Orion capsule held up well during its scorching downward trip through Earth's atmosphere, mission commander Reid Wiseman said.

"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 astronauts who ignited a lunar renaissance are giving high marks to their moonship for its performance during reentry — especially the heat shield

The astronauts who flew around the moon and back in NASA's landmark Artemis II mission said their re-entry into Earth's atmosphere was smooth, but ​the mission's commander described some charring on the Orion capsule's critical heat shield.

The Artemis II astronauts who recently returned from the far side of the Moon have described their “otherworldly” experience during the record-breaking mission. Speaking at their first news conference since returning home last Friday,

The Artemis II crew members will speak about their experiences from the historic 10-day mission around the Moon - watch live from 19:30 GMT (14:30 ET) Nasa astronauts Reid Wiseman

Commander Reid Wiseman described what it was like to be 250,000 miles away from earth, the farthest humans have traveled.

Astronauts from NASA 's first crewed Artemis flight largely sidestepped a question about the diversity of the future astronauts assigned to the upcoming moon-landing mission. Speaking at a news conference days after their return to Earth,