Trump calls Artemis II astronauts “modern-day pioneers” in live conversation after circling the moon

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. 

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.

The Orion spacecraft is now headed back toward Earth, with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean planned for Friday.

This is a breaking story; it will be updated.