'Welcome home, Artemis': Crew celebrates historic 10-day moon mission

The Artemis II crew was awakened Thursday by the song “Lonesome Drifter,” by country singer Charley Crockett, as day nine of their 10-day flight officially began.

Reentry and splashdown preparations for a scheduled Friday splashdown off the California coast are now in full swing. The crew is scheduled to execute their second return trajectory burn of the Orion crew module at 10:53 p.m. ET today.

NASA will hold another mission status briefing at 3:30 p.m. ET.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado

The weather forecast remains good for the scheduled splashdown of the Artemis II Orion crew module, according to NASA.

Tentatively scheduled for 5:07 p.m. PT/8:07 p.m. ET Friday, NASA says the splashdown site will likely be within 100 miles of the coast of San Diego, Calif., where the Navy's amphibious transport dock ship USS John P. Murtha will lead recovery efforts.

The majority of the weather criteria are in order to have a safe recovery mission by sea and by air. Visibility will likely be within the necessary guidelines for the safe flight of recovery helicopters, especially from 50 to 100 miles off the coast.

Weather criteria that need to be met for a safe splashdown and recovery include significant wave heights of less than six feet, no precipitation or lightning within 35 miles of the splashdown site, and winds under 28 mph, with minimal cloud cover and good visibility, according to NASA.

-ABC News' Kenton Gewecke

The Artemis II crew spoke to reporters from aboard the Orion spacecraft as they near the end of their historic lunar mission.

Cmdr. Reid Wiseman described one of the mission's most powerful experiences: a tribute to his late wife, Carroll, when Hansen asked Mission Control for permission to name a lunar crater in her honor.

"That was kind of the pinnacle moment of the mission for me," Wiseman said. "That's where the four of us were the most forged, the most bonded."

The moment, he added, left the entire crew in tears and strengthened their connection as a team.

Pilot Victor Glover said the mission reaffirmed his long-held belief about Earth's fragility.

"It doesn't change it -- it absolutely reaffirms that we live on a fragile planet in the vacuum of space," he said. "It's almost like seeing living proof."

Despite witnessing the moon up close, he said the experience reinforced humanity's shared responsibility to "find joy and lifting each other up."

Mission specialist Christina Koch described life inside the spacecraft as both cramped and surprisingly fluid.

"Yes, it feels bigger in microgravity and yes, we are bumping into each other 100% of the time," she said, noting that even simple tasks become team efforts.

-ABC News' Jason Volack

The Artemis II crew is preparing to enter the final phase of its historic mission.

During Wednesday's mission status briefing, NASA’s reentry teams shared more about the readiness of the Orion spacecraft heading into splashdown day.

“And when the mission goes well, it can look like flying to the moon is easy," Lakeisha Hawkins, acting deputy associate administrator at NASA, said at the start of the conference. “It certainly is not.”

Engineers recently completed a final inspection of the Orion crew module, reviewing imagery of the spacecraft’s surface. At this point, NASA reports “no concerns” and “no issues” that would impact reentry.

The spacecraft is expected to reach a maximum speed of about 34,965 feet per second during reentry, and if all goes according to plan, astronauts can experience up to 3.9gs of force.

According to current forecasts, NASA flight director Rick Henfling says the weather is expected to cooperate for a Friday splashdown.

-ABC News' Briana Alvarado and Matthew Glasser