Trump congratulates Artemis II astronauts after completing record-breaking lunar journey

The Artemis II crew is leaving the lunar sphere of influence as the astronauts continue their journey back toward Earth, NASA announced on Tuesday afternoon.

“We anticipate that the Orion spacecraft has now departed the lunar sphere of influence — this is when the gravitational pull of the Moon is stronger than the gravitational pull of Earth,” the space agency said.

The crew is expected to splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on April 10, nine days after launching into space from Florida.

A new photo from Artemis II captured the far side of the moon in a new light, highlighting its rugged topography in ways that are rarely visible, NASA said Tuesday.

In the photo taken Monday, part of the moon is captured as it comes into view along the terminator, which NASA described as “the boundary between lunar day and night — where low-angle sunlight casts long, dramatic shadows across the surface.”

“This grazing light accentuates the Moon’s rugged topography, revealing craters, ridges, and basin structures in striking detail,” the space agency said.

The photo shows features such as Jule Crater, Birkhoff Crater, Stebbins Crater and surrounding highlands, according to NASA.

“From this perspective, the interplay of light and shadow highlights the complexity of the lunar surface in ways not visible under full illumination,” it said.

NASA has shared a close-up view from the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II crew’s lunar flyby, capturing a total solar eclipse from a new vantage point.

In the photo taken Monday, only part of the moon visible in the frame as it fully blocks out the sun.

“Although the full lunar disk extends beyond the image, the Sun’s faint corona remains visible as a soft halo of light around the Moon’s edge,” NASA said.

“From this deep-space vantage point, the Moon appeared large enough to sustain nearly 54 minutes of totality, far longer than total solar eclipses typically seen from Earth,” the space agency continued.

The cropped perspective of the photo emphasizes the scale of the alignment and reveals subtle structure in the corona that the crew observed, according to NASA.

“The bright silver glint on the left edge of the image is the planet Venus,” NASA said. “The round, dark gray feature visible along the Moon’s horizon between the 9 and 10 o’clock positions is Mare Crisium, a feature visible from Earth. We see faint lunar features because light reflected off of Earth provides a source of illumination.”

NASA has shared a close-up view from the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II crew’s lunar flyby, capturing a total solar eclipse from a new vantage point.

In the photo taken Monday, only part of the moon visible in the frame as it fully blocks out the sun.

“Although the full lunar disk extends beyond the image, the Sun’s faint corona remains visible as a soft halo of light around the Moon’s edge,” NASA said.

“From this deep-space vantage point, the Moon appeared large enough to sustain nearly 54 minutes of totality, far longer than total solar eclipses typically seen from Earth,” the space agency continued.

The cropped perspective of the photo emphasizes the scale of the alignment and reveals subtle structure in the corona that the crew observed, according to NASA.

“The bright silver glint on the left edge of the image is the planet Venus,” NASA said. “The round, dark gray feature visible along the Moon’s horizon between the 9 and 10 o’clock positions is Mare Crisium, a feature visible from Earth. We see faint lunar features because light reflected off of Earth provides a source of illumination.”

A retired NASA astronaut gave expert insight into how the Artemis II crew will make its return to Earth after completing their lunar loop around the moon.

Butch Wilmore, also a Fox News contributor, told “America’s Newsroom” on Tuesday that reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere must be “very precise” and the crew will reach tremendous speeds as the Earth’s gravity begins to pull them toward home.

“As they start to trek back towards Earth, the gravitational pull of the Earth is going to pull them in and they’re going to come faster, and faster and faster,” Wilmore said.

Wilmore, who has logged more than 464 days in space across three missions, said the crew will be traveling at about 25,000 miles per hour, a speed faster than seven miles a second, when they start reentering Earth’s atmosphere.

“I’m not sure if they’ll break the record for the fastest humans ever, but there’s a good chance they will,” he said. “Time will tell.”

Wilmore said that the crew will have a “very narrow window to reenter the atmosphere,” which they’ll have to hit at a precise angle, “firing those thrusters to get them on that exact trajectory.”

“If you’re too shallow, way too shallow,” Wilmore warned, “then you skip off the atmosphere … and you just keep going.”

The Artemis II capsule is aiming for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean near San Diego on April 10, nine days after the crew launched the mission from Florida.

Before embarking on the historic lunar flyby on Monday, the Artemis II crew spoke to Mission Control and asked to name a crater on the moon after the late wife of the mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman.

The crew had requested permission to name two bright, freshly carved craters.

One crater was suggested to be called Integrity, the name the crew gave their Orion capsule. The other was Carroll, after commander Wiseman’s wife who died of cancer in 2020.

Wiseman wept as Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen put in the request to Mission Control, and all four astronauts embraced in tears.

“Such a majestic view out here,” Wiseman radioed once he regained his composure and started picture-taking.

The astronauts called down that they managed to capture the moon and Earth in the same shot, and they provided a running commentary to scientists back in Houston on what they were seeing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A total solar eclipse from the far side of the moon is seen in a first-of-its-kind photo taken during the Artemis II lunar mission.

The White House shared the photo from NASA, which was taken Monday, in a post on X.

“Totality, beyond Earth,” the post read. “From lunar orbit, the Moon eclipses the Sun, revealing a view few in human history have ever witnessed.”

The astronauts ensured themselves the cosmic view from behind the moon by launching the mission last Wednesday.

The Artemis II crew began studying solar eclipses in the few weeks before their space journey after already spending years learning lunar geography to prepare for the mission.

A former NASA astronaut weighed in on the Artemis II mission to the moon and what the astronauts discovered during their lunar observations.

Jose Hernandez said it was “surreal” to witness the history-making lunar mission on Monday, recalling his own mission to space where he orbited the Earth 214 times during an appearance on “FOX & Friends First” Tuesday morning.

When asked about the astronauts’ observations of the moon appearing brown with unusual greenish hues, Hernandez said the unexpected colors are likely from light bouncing from the Earth.

“What happens is you’ve go the Earth’s shine hitting the [moon] and light bouncing out and creating these interesting hues,” he said. “You also got to see the corona of the sun as the moon blocked the entire sun and they were able to study the ages of the sun itself.”

Hernandez highlighted the mission a “new era” of space exploration that will pave the way for the establishment of a long-duration lunar base on the surface of the moon.

President Donald Trump spoke to the Artemis II crew on Monday after they completed their loop around the moon, telling them they made history as "modern-day pioneers."

"Today you’ve made history and made all of America really proud. Incredibly proud," Trump told the crew.

The president praised the four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen — as "brave" and "modern-day pioneers".

"America will be second to none in space and everything else that we’re doing, and we will continue to lead the whole thing, into the stars," Trump said.

The president added that more lunar traveling is coming and ultimately "the whole big trip to Mars.”

"Your mission paves the way for America's return to the lunar surface very soon," Trump said.

The successful mission sets the stage for next year’s Artemis III, which will see another Orion crew practice docking with lunar landers in orbit around Earth. The culminating moon landing by two astronauts near the moon’s south pole will follow on Artemis IV in 2028.

Fox News Digital's Stephen Sorace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

During their lunar observations, the Artemis II crew spotted unexpected colors on the Moon’s surface.

Much of the terrain appeared brown, while distinct greenish tones showed up in isolated areas.

“Something I just heard from the window team is the more I look at the moon and the browner and browner it looks, I thought that was an interesting observation,” Mission Specialist Christina Koch said during a NASA transmission.

Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen noted the greenish hues near the Aristarchus Plateau, a large, relatively young crater. The crew added that this coloration was unique and not seen elsewhere on that side of the Moon.