Late Monday, President Trump praised the NASA Artemis II mission crew, commending them for “inspiring the entire world” during a brief conversation. This followed their historic loop around the moon in what has been described as a record-breaking journey.

The mission consisted of four astronauts — three Americans and one Canadian — who set a new milestone by traveling farther from Earth than any human in history. Earlier that day, they achieved a maximum distance of 252,756 miles from Earth, surpassing the Apollo 13 record from 1970 by more than 4,000 miles. Notably, they became the first humans to witness certain parts of the moon’s far side with the naked eye.

During a 12-minute call, President Trump lauded the astronauts for their “courage” and “genius,” emphasizing that this mission marks a vital step in NASA’s ambitions to return humans to the lunar surface, a feat not accomplished in over 50 years.

“America is a frontier nation, and the four brave astronauts of Artemis II are truly modern-day pioneers,” the president remarked, highlighting the United States’ intent to eventually “push on to Mars” following this success.

The Orion spacecraft is now on its course back to Earth, with a planned splashdown in the Pacific Ocean scheduled for Friday.

This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.