President Trump told the crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission they had “inspired the entire world” in a brief chat late Monday, after they looped around the moon in a record-breaking voyage.
“Today, you’ve made history and made all America really proud,” he said. “Humans have never really seen anything quite like what you’re doing in a manned spacecraft. It’s really special.”
The four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — traveled farther from Earth than any human beings in history earlier Monday, reaching a maximum distance from Earth of 252,756 miles, passing the Apollo 13 distance record set in 1970 by over 4,000 miles. They also became the first humans to see parts of the far side of the moon with the naked eye.
In a roughly 12-minute call, Mr. Trump praised the astronauts for their “courage” and “genius” — and noted that their trip is a precursor to NASA’s bid to return humans to the surface of the moon for the first time in over half a century.
“America is a frontier nation, and the four brave astronauts of Artemis II … really are modern-day pioneers,” the president said, adding that the U.S. plans to “push on to Mars” next.
Speaking to the crew when they were just over 250,000 miles from Earth, Mr. Trump is the latest president to make a very-very-very-very-long-distance phone call to astronauts, a tradition most famous for when President Richard Nixon called up Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin while they were on the moon.
Monday’s call appeared to have a delay of several seconds between when the astronauts and the president spoke. The conversation paused at one point, with Mr. Trump remarking, “I think we might’ve gotten cut off.”
The president quizzed the four astronauts on the most unforgettable parts of their journey around the far side of the moon.
The mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman, remarked on the opportunity to lay eyes on “sights that no human has ever seen before.” But he said the day’s biggest surprise came when they watched a solar eclipse and spotted Mars in the distance.
“All of us commented how excited we are to watch this nation and this planet become a two-planet species,” he said.
Mission specialist Christina Koch said her biggest highlight was catching her first glimpses of Earth after passing around the moon, a moment that came after a communications blackout.
“It really just reminds you what a special place we have, and how important it is for our nation … to lead and not follow in exploring deep space,” she said.
Pilot Victor Glover told the president their time on the other side of the moon was “quite nice,” but the crew was busy making detailed scientific observations: “I said a little prayer, but then I had to keep rolling.”
Mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency, told the U.S. president that “Canadians are so proud to be a part of this program.”
Mr. Trump has had a complicated relationship with Canada, but he was complimentary on Monday, praising both the U.S.’s northern neighbor and Hansen as the astronaut high-fived his American commander. The president said he had spoken with two important Canadians: Prime Minister Mark Carney and retired hockey great Wayne Gretzky.
The Orion spacecraft is now headed back toward Earth, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean planned for Friday.
After their return, Mr. Trump said he hopes to invite them to the Oval Office, where he plans to give them “a big salute” and ask for their autographs.
“I don’t really ask for autographs much, but you deserve that,” the president said.
