Trump Congratulates Artemis II Crew After Lunar Flyby

President Donald Trump spoke with the four astronauts aboard NASA's Artemis II mission on April 6, 2026, shortly after they completed a historic lunar flyby, marking the first crewed voyage around the Moon in more than 50 years. The 13-minute call, conducted from about 250,000 miles from Earth as the Orion spacecraft orbited the Moon, included congratulations from Trump and a moment of extended silence that later drew widespread online attention.

The crew, consisting of NASA commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, had just executed a seven-hour flyby of the Moon's far side. They reached a record distance of 252,756 miles from Earth and approached within 4,067 miles of the lunar surface during a 40-minute communication blackout. The astronauts captured detailed images of the Moon's typically hidden far side, which features more craters and fewer flat basaltic plains, or "maria," compared to the near side. Wiseman later described the views as transformative, noting the shift in perspective on familiar Earth sights, while Koch highlighted the emotional impact of reconnecting with...