U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated the four astronauts of NASA's Artemis II mission, telling them that "made history and made all America really proud" after they flew deeper into space on Monday than any humans before them (April 6).

The crew reached a record distance of 252,756 miles from Earth as they cruised through a rare flyby of the shadowed far side of the moon that revealed a lunar surface under cosmic bombardment.

"And we saw sights ... sights that no human has ever seen before, not even in Apollo, and that was amazing for us," mission commander Reid Wiseman told Trump.

Trump then asked about what it was like being without communication when Monday's lunar flyby plunged the crew into darkness and a 40-minute communications blackout as the moon blocked them from NASA's Deep Space Network.

Mission pilot Victor Glover said that he said a little prayer but "had to keep rolling". Glover added that his team was to make some of its "most detailed observations of the far side of the Moon up close" during this period.

Trump then concluded his call by saying that he is looking forward to having the astronauts at the Oval Office. "I'll ask for your autograph, because I don't really ask for autographs much, but you deserve that. You really are something," said Trump.

Artemis, a successor to the Apollo program, aims to repeat that achievement by 2028, ahead of China's first landing, and to establish a long-term U.S. lunar presence over the next decade, including a moon base to serve as a proving ground for potential future missions to Mars.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS SPEAKING WITH U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP / SOUNDBITES FROM ASTRONAUTS AND TRUMP

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: IN SPACE (APRIL 6, 2026) (NASA - For editorial use only)

1. U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP BEING INTRODUCED AS VERY SPECIAL GUEST TO ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS (FROM LEFT) MISSION SPECIALIST JEREMY HANSEN, MISSION SPECIALIST CHRISTINA KOCH, MISSION COMMANDER REID WISEMAN AND MISSION PILOT VICTOR GLOVER

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“A very special hello to Artemis II. Today you've made history and made all America really proud, incredibly proud. 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.”

3. WHITE FLASH

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“ I want to personally salute and congratulate Commander Reid Weissman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. And I also want to thank the entire amazing team at NASA, headed by Jared, who's a very special guy, by the way. And you all made this day possible. And you've really inspired the entire world, really. Everybody's watching. They find it incredible. I just watched you go to the back of the moon. And people haven't been there in a long time.”

5. WHITE FLASH

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“But it's going to be more and more prevalent because we're going to be doing a lot of travelling. And then you're going to ultimately do the whole big trip to Mars, and that's going to be very exciting. So you look at -- we had no astronaut has been to the moon since the days of the Apollo program. The Apollo program was also very special, but that was 50 years ago. And at long last, America is back, and America is back in many ways stronger than ever before with the hottest country anywhere in the world.”

7. WHITE FLASH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“The Artemis crew flew in the most powerful rocket NASA has ever made, ever launched, travelled over a quarter of a million miles, broke the distance record set by the legendary Apollo 13. And America is a frontier nation, and the four brave astronauts of Artemis II are modern-day pioneers. You really are modern-day pioneers, all of you. And one of them happens to be a neighbor. You know who that is, right? You have a special person over there, a neighbor. And we like our neighbor.”

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“ We'll plant our flag once again. And this time we won't just leave footprints. We'll establish a permanent presence on the moon and we'll push on to Mars.”

11. WHITE FLASH

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“And tell me what is the most unforgettable part of this really historic day? The whole world is watching and listening. Please tell me.”

13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTEMIS II MISSION COMMANDER, REID WISEMAN, SAYING:

“President, this call is certainly special to all of us, and we really have a lot of faith in our Administrator, Jared Isaacman, who is with you. We appreciate his leadership in NASA and in the international community. We are doing great things, and we are proud to be a part of (inaudible). I have to tell you, as we came around, the near side of the moon, seeing all the sights that we've seen from Earth for all of our lives, but we're seeing them from a different perspective. And then we started to get a glimpse of the (inaudible). And we saw sights, (inaudible) sights that no human has ever seen before, not even in Apollo, and that was amazing for us. And then the surprise of the day, we just came out of an eclipse where the sun, (inaudible) moon, and the entire dark moon were about that big right out the window that we were watching. We could see the corona of the sun and then we could see the planets train line up (inaudible) Mars, and all of us commented on how excited we are to watch this nation and this planet become a two-planet species.

14. WHITE FLASH

15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST, CHRISTINA KOCH, SAYING:

“Mr. President, (inaudible) to be here with you speaking about our incredible day today. I think one of the biggest highlights was coming back from the far side of the moon and having the first glimpses of planet Earth again after being out of communication for about 45 minutes. It really just reminds you what a special place we have and how important it is for our nation to (inaudible) to lead and not follow in exploring deep space.”

16. WHITE FLASH

17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“What was your feeling when you had no communication, a little bit different perhaps?”

18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTEMIS II MISSION PILOT, VICTOR GLOVER, SAYING:

“Yes, Mr. President, it was. I said a little prayer, but then I had to keep rolling. I was actually recording scientific observations of the far side of the moon. You know, that is actually the time when we were the farthest (inaudible) and the closest to the Moon. And so we were really able to make some of our most detailed observations of the far side of the Moon up close. And so we were busy up here working really hard, and I must say, it was actually quite nice.”

19. WHITE FLASH

20. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“Did you see a difference, a big difference between the far side of the Moon and the near side of the Moon? Was there a difference in feel or difference in look? What did you see?”

21. ARTEMIS II MISSION SPECIALIST, JEREMY HANSEN, SAYING:

“Well, Mr. President, we certainly did. And our (inaudible) really set us up well to understand what they thought we might see. And the gravitational pull of the Earth has had a profound effect on the near side of the Moon, changing all those dark mares, those dark patches of the Moon you see from Earth. It's very different on the far side. While you see some small patches of those mare in deep craters, it's very much absent on that side. So that's really neat.”

21. WHITE FLASH

22. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“Well, I have to say I spoke to a very special person, Wayne Gretzky, who I think you know, the great one. And I spoke to your Prime Minister and many other friends I have in Canada. They are so proud of you. And you have a lot of courage. I'm not sure if they'd want to do that. I'm not even sure if the great one would want to do that, to be honest with you. But you have a lot of courage doing what you're doing, a lot of bravery and a lot of genius. But they're very, very proud of you.”

23. WHITE FLASH

24. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“Great. Well, I really look forward to, when we can, I look forward to seeing you in the Oval Office. I'll ask Jared to bring you over and I'll ask for your autograph, because I don't really ask for autographs much, but you deserve that. You really are something. Everybody's 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 triumphs. This is big. This is really big stuff. The whole world is talking about it. If you have the time, I will certainly find the time. I've been pretty busy also, as you know, but I will absolutely find the time and we'll get together and I'm going to be giving you a big salute on behalf of the American people and beyond that.” / ASTRONAUTS SALUTING

25. WHITE FLASH

26. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT, DONALD TRUMP, SAYING:

“Well, thank you very much. And Jared, congratulations. We'll see you soon. And I know that you have Mars very much on your mind, so we'll start thinking about that pretty soon, I think. And thank you. Congratulations to everybody. I'll see you at the Oval Office."

ADMINISTRATOR JARED ISAACMAN: "Thank you for your time, Mr. President. It's been an honor."

Thank you very much. Bye.” / ASTRONAUTS WAVING

TEXAS, UNITED STATES (APRIL 6, 2026) (NASA - For editorial use only)

27. VIEW OF MISSION CONTROL