The president of the United States, Donald Trump, reacted enthusiastically this Friday to the successful splashdown of NASA's Artemis II mission, posting a message on his social media platform Truth Social just minutes after the Orion capsule touched down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego, California.
"Congratulations to the great and very talented Artemis II team! The entire journey was spectacular, the landing was perfect, and as President of the United States, I could not be prouder!" wrote the leader.
"I hope to see all of you very soon at the White House. We'll do it again and then, next step: Mars!", he added.
It was not the first time that Trump interacted with the crew during the mission.
On Sunday, April 6, when the spacecraft was on the far side of the Moon, the president spoke directly with the four astronauts via video call and told them: "You have made history."
In that conversation, Trump was even more explicit about his space ambitions.
"This time we will not just leave footprints, but we will build a base and go straight to Mars," he said then.
The leader also emphasized the strategic importance of the mission in light of the rivalry with China, and promised the crew that "the United States will have no rival in space or in anything we are doing."
The Artemis II mission, launched on April 1 from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, lasted ten days and traveled over 1.1 million kilometers around the Moon, becoming the first crewed journey to the lunar environment since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
The crew was made up of commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover (the first African American on a crewed lunar mission), specialist Christina Koch (the first woman on such a mission), and Canadian Jeremy Hansen (the first citizen of that country to orbit the Moon).
On April 6, the mission set the record for the greatest distance ever reached by humans from Earth, reaching 406,773 kilometers and surpassing the 400,171 km established by Apollo 13 in 1970, a record that stood for over 56 years and was officially recognized by Guinness World Records.
After the landing, NASA celebrated the milestone in a press conference.
Howard Hu, director of the Orion program, stated: "This mission has been historic and demonstrated the team's ability to go further than any human has gone before."
Lori Glaze, Deputy Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center, predicted that they will work "tirelessly to land on the Moon in 2028," while Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya described the expedition as "the most important in decades" and "a turning point."
The NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, appointed by Trump during his second term, emphasized the significance of the achievement with a phrase that encapsulates the sentiment of the day: "The United States has once again sent astronauts to the Moon and brought them back safely."
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