US President Donald Trump has praised the Artemis II crew for making history after venturing to the far side of the moon and travelling further from Earth than any humans before.
NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hanse officially broke the record set by the Apollo 13 mission in 1970, travelling 248,655 miles (400,171 km) from Earth aboard the Orion spacecraft around 4am on Tuesday AEST.
After hitting the historic milestone, the Artemis II crew – who are six days into their 10-day lunar fly-by – ventured further into space, reaching their maximum distance of 252,760 miles (406,778 km) from Earth at 7.02pm ET (9.02am Tuesday AEST). They are now on their way back home to Earth.
Speaking to the four astronauts over the phone from their Orion spacecraft, Mr Trump congratulated the crew, who he described as “modern-day pioneers”.
“Today you’ve made history and made all of America really proud. Incredibly proud,” he said.
“We have a lot of things to be proud of lately, but this is, there’s nothing like what you’re doing circling around the moon for the first time in more than a half a century and breaking the all time record for the farthest distance from planet Earth.”
The US President invited the crew to the Oval Office once they return to Earth – expected to be a Friday evening splash down in the Pacific Ocean.
“I’ll ask for your autograph,” Mr Trump said. “Because I don’t really ask for autographs much, but you deserve that. You really are something.
“Everybody is talking about this, and I look forward to having you in the Oval Office at the White House, and we will celebrate your incredible achievements and trials. This is big … I’m going to be giving you a big salute on behalf of the American people.”
Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen earlier celebrated his crew’s historic milestone in travelling further than any human has before, by paying homage to the space explorers who came before him.
“From the cabin of Integrity (the Orion capsule) here, as we surpass the furthest distance humans have ever travelled from planet Earth, we do so in honouring the extraordinary efforts and feats of our predecessors in human space exploration,” he said in a statement.
“We will continue our journey even further into space before Mother Earth succeeds in pulling us back to everything that we hold dear. But we most importantly choose this moment to challenge this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.”
After passing the far side of the moon, the crew experienced a 40-minute communication blackout.
During the outage, which occurred around 6.44pm on Monday ET (8.44am Tuesday AEST), all radio and laser signals that allow communications with Earth were blocked by the moon, leaving the four astronauts travelling through space alone.
“It is so great to hear from Earth again,” Christina Koch said after the signal returned.
“To Asia, Africa and Oceania, we are looking back at you. We hear you can look up and see the moon right now. We see you, too.”
Before the mission, Artemis pilot Victor Glover reflected on the blackout in an interview with the BBC.
“When we’re behind the moon, out of contact with everybody, let’s take that as an opportunity,” he said.
“Let’s pray, hope, send your good thoughts and feelings that we get back in contact with the crew.”
During the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, astronaut Michael Collins was orbiting the moon in the command module when he lost contact with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they explored the lunar surface, as well as mission control, for 48 minutes.
In his 1974 memoir Carrying the Fire, Mr Collins said he felt “truly alone” and “isolated from any known life” during the period.
Lunar crater named after commander’s late wife
The Artemis II crew shared an emotional moment on Monday when they proposed to name a crater in honour of mission commander Reid Wiseman’s late wife, Carroll, who died of cancer in 2020.
Mr Wiseman has been raising their two daughters on his own for the past nearly six years.
“It’s a bright spot on the Moon. And we would like to call it Carroll,” Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen told a live broadcast.
He said the crater can be seen “at certain times of the Moon’s transit around Earth”.
During the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, former astronaut Jim Lovell named a lunar mountain after his wife, Marilyn.
The crew also named another crater ‘Integrity’ after the spacecraft.
A NASA spokesperson said the names proposed by the Artemis crew would be passed along to the International Astronomical Union.
Astronauts glimpse Moon’s ‘Grand Canyon’ for first time with ‘human eyes’
Astronauts glimpsed the Moon’s “Grand Canyon” for the first time with “human eyes” on the weekend.
“History in the making,” NASA wrote early on Sunday.
“In this new image from our @NASAArtemis II crew, you can see Orientale basin on the right edge of the lunar disk. This mission marks the first time the entire basin has been seen with human eyes.”
The massive crater, which resembles a bullseye, had been photographed before by orbiting cameras.
Astronaut Christina Koch, speaking to Canadian children live from space, said the crew was most excited to see the basin = sometimes known as the Moon’s “Grand Canyon”.
“It’s very distinctive and no human eyes previously had seen this crater until today, really, when we were privileged enough to see it,” Ms Koch said during the question-and-answer session hosted by the Canadian Space Agency.
Former astronaut Charlie Duke, who walked on the Moon in 1972 as part of the Apollo 16 mission, gave the ceremonial wakeup call to the crew on Sunday.
“Below you on the Moon is a photo of my family,” the 90-year-old said.
“I pray it reminds you that we in America and all of the world are cheering you on. Thanks to you and the whole team on the ground for building on our Apollo legacy with Artemis.”
