On April 6th, US President Trump congratulated the four astronauts of the Artemis II mission for successfully orbiting the moon, breaking the record for the farthest human travel in history. Trump praised these space explorers as “modern-day pioneers” during the call and emphasized how the mission has filled all of America with immense pride.
The Orion spacecraft involved in the Artemis II mission reached a distance of 252,756 miles (approximately 406,771 kilometers) from Earth on Monday, surpassing the record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 at 248,655 miles, marking a new milestone for human space travel.
During the call, Trump asked the astronauts to share their most memorable moments while flying around the moon on Monday.
“As we passed over the near side of the moon, we saw all the landscapes previously seen from Earth, but this time we observed them from a different perspective,” said mission commander and US astronaut Reid Wiseman. He added that he and his colleagues had the opportunity to witness lunar terrains unseen by humans before.
In the following conversation, Trump expressed to Wiseman and the entire team, “Today, you have made history, making all Americans very proud and immensely proud.”
He further pledged that the United States will continue to maintain its leadership position in space. Trump said, “The United States in space and everything we are doing is unparalleled, and we will continue to lead all of this towards the stars.”
In a casual interaction, Trump also humorously expressed his anticipation to welcome the four heroes back to the White House and jokingly asked them for their autographs.
“I usually don’t ask people for autographs,” Trump said, “but you guys deserve it.”
This mission was filled with a sense of inheritance from the aerospace predecessors. Prior to orbiting the moon, the astronauts received a pre-recorded congratulatory message from the commander of Apollo 13, Jim Lovell, who passed away last August.
“Welcome to a place I’m familiar with,” Lovell said in the recording, “This is a historic day, I know you’ll be busy, but don’t forget to enjoy the beautiful view.”
As a tribute, the Artemis II mission also carried the silk mission patch that Lovell used in the Apollo 8 mission.
After joining NASA as an astronaut in 1962, Lovell participated in four missions, including Gemini 7, Gemini 12, Apollo 8, and Apollo 13. In the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, he and his team successfully orbited the moon and captured the iconic “Earthrise” photo, establishing US leadership in the Cold War space race.
In April 1970, Lovell led the Apollo 13 crew to the moon, but an oxygen tank explosion forced the mission to be aborted. He and his team urgently retreated to the lunar module, resolved the oxygen and water supply crisis, and ultimately safely landed in the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to breaking records, the four astronauts also witnessed unprecedented scientific wonders. Thanks to the timing of the launch, they became the first humans to view a solar eclipse from the moon’s perspective. Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen exclaimed, “The entire moon was illuminated, it was glowing from behind.”
Hansen noted that he initially thought the moon would appear dark against the black space background, but the sun illuminated the moon from behind. He described the range of the halo as “stretching around the entire moon, at least as wide as 10 sun diameters or widths.”
Furthermore, during a 40-minute communication blackout, the astronauts witnessed at least four impact flashes caused by asteroid collisions on the lunar surface, which excited the scientists at the ground mission control. Studying these cosmic impacts helps scientists understand and piece together the moon’s history.
In between the bustle, the astronauts also celebrated by sharing “maple cream cookies” while flying over the far side of the moon and during the 40-minute communication blackout.
“We gathered for about 30 seconds, each of us had a maple cream cookie, and then immediately returned to our scientific tasks,” said mission commander Wiseman.
The mission also revealed a tender side. Wiseman, while observing the moon, requested to name two newly discovered craters as “Integrity” (meaning honesty, also the name of the spacecraft) and “Carroll” – the latter in memory of his wife who passed away from cancer in 2020, which brought tears of excitement to the entire team inside the module.
Although the mission was completed successfully, the astronauts also left valuable suggestions for future plans.
Pilot and African American astronaut Victor Glover mentioned some challenges regarding daily life details, suggesting improvements in packaging for the future Artemis III mission and addressing plumbing issues in the spacecraft’s toilet system.
Glover stated that he and his colleagues learned a lot from this flight and have many experiences to pass on to the crew scheduled to launch for the third mission next year.
“We could almost hand them a book,” Glover said. “How you pack affects how you live on your journey.”
Female astronaut Christina Koch emotionally expressed after communication was restored, “It’s so good to hear the sound of the Earth again. Asia, Africa, and Oceania, we are looking back at you. We hear that you can now see the moon when looking up. We see you too.”
“We will explore, we will build, we will construct spacecraft, revisit the moon, build scientific outposts, drive lunar rovers,… but ultimately, we will always choose Earth, we will always choose each other.” She said.
Artemis II is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday evening, laying a valuable foundation for the US’s upcoming lunar exploration program.