U.S. President Donald Trump praised the courage of the Artemis II astronauts Wednesday at the White House, calling Canadian Jeremy Hansen and his crewmates “very brave” for their historic lunar fly-around.
“That was a lot of rocket under them. I never saw anything like that,” Trump said. Hansen, alongside NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, stood beside the president nearly three weeks after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
The crew became the first humans to travel to the moon in over 50 years, reaching farther from Earth than anyone before. Trump, who spoke with the astronauts shortly after they circled the far side of the moon, invited them to the Oval Office and asked for their autographs.
Despite the administration’s praise, Trump’s proposed NASA budget for the next fiscal year is $18.8 billion - a 23% cut. The Artemis program, launched during Trump’s first term, aims to establish a permanent lunar presence and eventually send astronauts to Mars. Three more Artemis missions are planned before the end of his second term.
Canada was the first international partner in the Artemis program. Hansen, 50, of London, Ontario, made history as the first non-American to travel beyond low Earth orbit and the first person to speak French while en route to the moon.