The Artemis II crew visited Airbus in Bremen to personally thank European engineers for building the European Service Module that powered their lunar mission. Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman praised the teams for the reliability of the systems the crew relied on. Assembled at Airbus's Bremen plant, the ESM provides propulsion, power, oxygen and water to the Orion spacecraft. In April, the four-person crew completed one orbit of the Moon and became the first humans to return to the lunar vicinity since Apollo 17 (1972).
Artemis II Astronauts Thank European Engineers for Service Module That Powered Historic Moon Mission
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, attend an event about the Artemis II mission hosted by NASA and Airbus. (is associated with: «Artemis II crew thanks European engineers for successful moon mission») Carmen Jaspersen/dpa
The crew of NASA's Artemis II mission paid a heartfelt visit to Airbus's facility in Bremen, Germany, to thank the European engineers behind the European Service Module (ESM) that powered their successful trip around the Moon.
Crew Honors Engineers in Bremen
On Tuesday, US astronauts Victor Glover and Reid Wiseman met with engineering teams at the Airbus plant and expressed their gratitude for the work that helped bring the crew home safely. Speaking alongside their fellow crew members — US astronaut Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen — they acknowledged that the mission's success reflected the skill and reliability of the systems built in Europe.
"We entrusted our lives to this technology," the crew said, praising the craftsmanship and dedication of the engineers.
What the European Service Module Does
The European Service Module, assembled at Airbus's Bremen facility, supplies the Orion spacecraft with propulsion, electrical power, oxygen and water — critical systems that enabled Artemis II's journey to the lunar vicinity and back to Earth.
Historic Flight
In April, Glover, Wiseman, Koch and Hansen completed the Artemis II mission, becoming the first humans to travel to the vicinity of the Moon since NASA's Apollo 17 in 1972. The four-person crew completed one orbit of the Moon and traveled farther from Earth than any humans before them.
The visit in Bremen highlighted the international cooperation behind Artemis II and underscored the growing role of European industry in deep-space exploration.
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