Adorable moment Artemis crew member returns home to a VERY happy dog

Published: 06:16, 13 April 2026 | Updated: 06:17, 13 April 2026 An astronaut who was aboard Artemis II shared a video of the heartwarming moment her adorable dog welcomed her home after a trip around the moon. Christina Koch, 47, just returned to Earth on Friday after completing a historic flyby around the moon, alongside three male colleagues. A camera captured the moment her dog, named Sadie, appeared to get the zoomies at the sight of seeing her owner following her nearly 10-day trip to space. Sadie could be seen scratching at the door, seemingly knowing it was Koch returning home. The door swings open, and the astronaut mirrors the dog's excitement, dropping to her knees as she calls her name. 'I’m still pretty sure I was the happier side of this reunion,' wrote Koch in her upload of the moment on Sunday. 'Sadie taught me everything I needed to know about being an emotional support animal. Didn’t expect that would come in handy.' The dog appeared almost incapable of controlling her excitement, running around Koch before grabbing a toy to show her. Christina Koch, 47, who was a part of the Artemis II mission, uploaded a heartwarming moment of her adorable dog named Sadie welcoming her home Both the astronaut and the dog were very excited to be reunited after Koch was gone for nearly 10 days floating in space Koch returned on Friday she can be seen being supported to walk as she arrived aboard USS John P Murtha The precious reunion garnered nearly 800,000 likes and thousands of comments, with many noting how touched they were by the moment. Additionally, the astronauts' post was accompanied by another moment of her and Sadie playing on the beach as they ran through the shallow water, looking very happy to be together again. Before reuniting with her pup, Koch endured a one-of-a-kind commute home from work. She plunged down in the Pacific Ocean, reaching blistering speeds of up to 25,000 miles per hour before making its 'bullseye' landing off the coast of San Diego, California, at 8.07pm ET on Friday. Koch was alongside astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen. The four went around the moon and farther than any human had ever traveled into space before. NASA officials called the Artemis II mission a total success, with the capsule splashing down exactly where the space agency had planned. The astronaut also uploaded more moments of her and Sadie playing at the beach together looking very happy to be together again Pictured: The NASA Artemis II crew, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover After being picked up from the Orion crew module and flown to the USS John P Murtha by helicopter, the history-making space explorers were greeted by cheering onboard crowds. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman called the moon mission 'perfect' and declared America's intention to begin the work on a successful moon landing and construction of a lunar base by 2028. Isaacman said: 'We are back in the business of sending astronauts to the moon. This is just the beginning.' The Artemis II mission began back on April 1 with a successful launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A day later, the crew set off on a four-day trip to the moon, where they would travel around the dark side and break the decades-old record of Apollo 13 for the farthest distance from Earth humans have ever traveled. While the Apollo crew traveled 248,655 miles from Earth in 1970, Artemis II reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles on day six of their mission. While conducting their lunar flyby, the astronauts also named two new craters discovered on the lunar surface, including naming one after the late wife of Artemis II mission commander Reid Wiseman, Carroll. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.