Artemis II Crew Visits Capitol Hill — Meets U.S. Senators on First Post-Splashdown Congressional Visit

All four Artemis II crew members — Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen — traveled to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. on May 12, 2026 for meetings with U.S. senators. The visit — Day 32 post-splashdown (April 10) — is a traditional post-spaceflight milestone reinforcing congressional support for the Artemis program. The timing was significant: the visit came amid the House Appropriations Committee's FY2027 CJS markup period, during which appropriators recommended $24.438 billion for NASA — flat with FY2026 enacted levels and a decisive rejection of the White House's proposed $18.829 billion (a 23% cut). The crew's Capitol Hill presence, one day before the full committee markup (May 13), offered a vivid demonstration of the program's political value across party lines. This was the crew's first appearance before Congress since the Artemis II mission successfully completed the first crewed lunar flyby in more than 50 years.