A fitting choice for the final day of the mission. NASA’s Artemis II crew is headed back to earth after 10 days in space, and this morning the crew aboard the Orion spacecraft was greeted by a fitting song from the Zac Brown Band to start their final day. Launched on April 1, the Artemis II mission performed the first crewed lunar flyby in 50 years, taking the four astronauts further away from earth than any human has ever gone before. The Artemis program was officially established in 2017 with the goal of returning humans to the moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. The program plans to establish a permanent base on the moon with the hopes of ultimately leading to human exploration of Mars. The first flight, Artemis I, took place in 2022 and was an uncrewed mission to orbit the moon. Artemis II, meanwhile, launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, this time with 4 crew members who will spent 10 days in space aboard the Orion spacecraft to complete a flyby of the moon. The whole thing has been pretty incredible to follow: Basically, NASA knew where the moon was going to be, so they launched the spacecraft so that it would be positioned on the dark side of the moon as it passed by, with Orion coming within about 4,000 miles of the moon at its closest point. And that may sound like they were still pretty far away from the moon (because they were), but at that point the crew was about 250,000 miles from Earth. Hello, Moon. It’s great to be back. Here’s a taste of what the Artemis II astronauts photographed during their flight around the Moon. Check out more photos from the mission: https://t.co/rzM1P0QbOl pic.twitter.com/6jWINHkDLh — NASA (@NASA) April 7, 2026 Can you imagine how those astronauts felt flying through space at 25,000 mph, hundreds of thousands of miles away from earth? Well this morning, NASA summed up the mission with their morning wake up song when they chose Zac Brown Band’s “Free” as the final song of the mission. And after waking up the crew, Zac himself shared a special message with the astronauts: “Good morning Reed, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy. Zac from Zac Brown Band here, checking in from the USA. We hope that piece of our song, ‘Free,’ helps start your day with the right kind of lift. We just want to say how proud we are of you. It takes courage, grit, and freedom to chase the unknown. It’s the purest kind of American spirit. Millions back home are looking up and feeling more inspired because of you. Keep flying strong. Keep flying safe. We can’t wait to welcome you home. Come see us on the road.” Responding to the wake up call, the astronauts thanked Zac – and NASA – for the message: “What a great way to start the day, Houston. Courage and grit: That will stick with me, and it should stick with all of you all day long.” I mean, just think of how free you would feel breaking through the atmosphere and flying around the earth. Seems like the perfect song choice for the final day. Released in nearly 16 years ago today, on April 12, 2010, “Free” is the fifth and final single from Zac Brown Band’s major label debut album The Foundation. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Country Song as well as Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group. It’s the second country song to be played aboard Orion this week, with Charley Crockett’s “Lonesome Drifter” being used as the wake up song yesterday, on day 9 of the mission.The post Zac Brown Sends Message To Artemis II Crew As They’re Woken Up By “Free” On Final Day Of Lunar Flyby Mission first appeared on Whiskey Riff.