Former President Donald Trump said Monday evening that he will speak with the four astronauts aboard NASA’s Artemis II mission after they completed a record-breaking trip around the moon. The crew, consisting of three Americans and one Canadian astronaut, traveled farther from Earth than any humans in history.
The Artemis II spacecraft reached a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth earlier Monday, surpassing the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by more than 4,000 miles. This mission allowed the astronauts to be the first humans to observe parts of the far side of the moon with their own eyes.
The Orion spacecraft, carrying the crew, is now returning toward Earth with a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean scheduled for Friday. Artemis II is a test flight in NASA’s ongoing effort to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time in over 50 years.
Why it matters
The Artemis II mission marks a critical milestone as NASA advances its Artemis program, aimed at sustainable human exploration of the moon and beyond. Breaking the distance record highlights progress in deep space travel capabilities, setting the stage for future lunar landings and long-duration missions.
Background
The Artemis II mission follows Artemis I, an uncrewed test flight around the moon in 2022. Artemis II is NASA’s first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in decades, reflecting renewed international interest in lunar exploration with collaborations including Canadian astronauts in the crew. The mission tests spacecraft systems and astronauts’ performance in deep space ahead of future Artemis missions targeting a moon landing.
Read more Politics stories on Goka World News.