The Artemis II astronauts, three Americans and one Canadian, who launched to the Moon from Florida on April 1, gave high praise for their spacecraft's performance during reentry, particularly the heat shield. The astronauts, who returned to Earth from a total lunar eclipse and a safe landing, said their mission puts NASA in a better position for a Moon landing by a crew in two years and an eventual Moon base. They spoke from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, their home base. Commander Reid Wiseman described the journey as "the most majestic, gorgeous thing that human eyes will ever witness," but also felt "scary" and "scared" as they hurtled back through the atmosphere at 39 times the speed of sound. The heat shield on the first Artemis test flight in 2022 came back so badly damaged that it pushed Artemis II back by months or years. The return of the Artemis II team coincided with the 56th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 13.