President Donald Trump has congratulated the astronauts of Artemis II following the successful completion of a historic journey around the moon, marking a major milestone in modern space exploration.
The four-member crew Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen traveled farther into space than any humans before, reaching a distance of 252,756 miles from Earth.
The mission surpassed the long-standing record set during the Apollo 13 mission.
Speaking to the crew after their lunar flyby, Trump praised them as “modern-day pioneers,” adding that their achievement has made the United States “incredibly proud” and strengthened its leadership in space exploration. He noted that the mission paves the way for a return to the lunar surface and eventual human missions to Mars.
During the journey, astronauts captured unprecedented views of the Moon’s far side and shared the first human-seen image of Earth from that vantage point, an image reminiscent of the iconic “Earthrise” photograph taken during Apollo 8.
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The mission also produced rare scientific observations, including a total solar eclipse seen from lunar orbit and unusual color variations on the noon’s surface, with astronauts reporting brown terrain mixed with distinct greenish hues.
In an emotional moment before the flyby, the crew requested that two lunar craters be named, one after their Orion capsule, “Integrity,” and another in memory of Commander Wiseman’s late wife.
The spacecraft experienced a planned 45-minute communications blackout as it passed behind the Moon, temporarily losing contact with earth due to signal obstruction.
NASA confirmed the crew is now on its return journey, with a splashdown expected in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on April 10, approximately nine days after launch.
The success of Artemis II sets the stage for future missions, including Artemis III, which aims to return astronauts to the lunar surface, and longer-term plans to establish a sustained human presence on the moon.
