WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump will host the four astronauts from the historic Artemis II lunar flyby at the White House on Wednesday.
The crew broke Apollo 13’s distance record for the farthest distance traveled from Earth during a 10-day mission earlier this month. They reached 252,756 miles, surpassing the 1970 record of 248,655 miles.
Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, mission specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen are expected to join the president in the Oval Office.
The mission ended with a splashdown off the coast of San Diego on April 10. Their Orion capsule, dubbed Integrity, made the plunge on autopilot.
Trump congratulated NASA on the successful mission, writing on Truth Social, “Congratulations to the Great and Very Talented Crew of Artemis II. The entire trip was spectacular, the landing was perfect and, as President of the United States, I could not be more proud! I look forward to seeing you all at the White House soon. We’ll be doing it again and then, next step, Mars!”
During the flyby, the astronauts spent more than six hours observing and documenting the far side of the Moon—previously seen only by robotic missions. They also witnessed a total solar eclipse, which Glover said “just blew all of us away.”
Next year, Artemis III will see astronauts practice docking their capsule with a lunar landing or two in orbit around Earth. Artemis IV will attempt to land a crew of two near the moon’s south pole in 2028.