Donald Trump spoke with the Artemis II astronauts: “Today they made history”

“Today they have made history and have filled all of America with pride incredible pride. Lately we have many things to be proud of, but this is… there is nothing like what you are doing, orbiting the Moon for the first time in more than half a century,” the American president began his message to the four astronauts who, thousands of kilometers away, were listening to him from the Orion spacecraft.

During the communication, Trump maintained that the mission, which this Monday surpassed the distance record of Apollo 13, “paves the way for the US to return to the lunar surface very soon.”

“We are doing everything we can, we will plant our flag once again, This time we will not only leave footprintsbut we will establish a permanent presence on the Moon and advance towards Mars,” the president promised.

The crew members, for their part, told him live about their experience after navigating the dark side of the moon in the peak stage of their mission before beginning their return to Earth. “I said a little prayer, but then I kept recording“Captain Victor Glover told the president when he asked him how they had felt when they crossed the dark side of the Moon and were left without communication with our planet for more than 40 minutes.

Glover added that they were especially busy during that key moment of their mission because they needed to record the variations of the lunar surface on this little-known side.

On the other hand, Trump invited the crew to the White House when they complete the mission. “He hopes to receive them in the Oval Office. Everyone is talking about this, I hope to see them soon in the Oval Office. This is very big, everyone is talking about this, it is very busy but it will take time,” he said.

Later, and after saying goodbye, reinforced the idea of ​​visiting Mars: “We will start thinking about that very soon,” he promised again, addressing one of the astronauts.